《Which way is my home》


 Prologue - i was send to another world while i was sleeping

    In a classroom of student¡¯s like any other school in the country


    Unknown since when, a white figure was standing upside down on the ceiling inside the classroom and it looking down to the students.


    You could only describe her as a white beauty, her ropes where completely white, her hair was white, silky and long, and her eyes were radiating a golden light, she looked very young and small with a thin body, with a pair of white and silver wings were coming out of her back.


    Her wings were almost as the same size as her, just, with one look, your only thought would be ¡®a beautiful angel¡¯, it didn¡¯t matter if you were male or female, it was a existence that was beyond this world, it was beyond the understanding that the humans possess, what gave it away she was a woman was her huge breasts, that like her wings didn''t matched her small size.


    Leaving aside the fact that, the white beauty was standing over the ceiling unaffected by the laws of gravity, what was drawing more the attention of the students was her dazzling smile.


    Nobody''s knew when she has appeared in the classroom, but all the students where in a silenced trance looking at her, how they couldn''t, their minds were frozen in time, it was like if every student was hypnotize by her charming and warm smile full of confidence in herself.


    This silence was broken by a clear sweet voice, every student could hear it very clearly, and even if theirs brains had stopped working long ago, they still could understood what the sweet voice was saying.


    [Unknown(Angel)]: ¡°1, 2, 3¡­.. 9, 10, 11¡­.. 25, 26, 27¡­..¡±


    The angel was now looking around over the classroom and it was frowning, her smile slowly disappearing from his face, and it was being replace with a serious expression.


    The white beauty started to count with a serious face now and was putting all her focus while doing so, it was her job and she could not fail at this critical conjuncture.


    Ignoring the stupefaction reflected in the students faces, she continued counting, even if she was putting a serious face, her voice sounded like beautiful melody for them.


    Only one student could get his mind back to working again after his initial shock.


    He could not help but to interrupt the white beauty that was signing a beautiful melody to ask a question, he need it answers after all.


    Even if that meant that, the white beauty would stop her sweet melody, her presence was to bizarre to be standing there hypnotize and doing nothing but stare at her.


    [Unknown (student#1)]: ¡°Ex-cough cough-Excuse me, little miss, what are you doing¡±


    His tone was not loud, but it was very firm, even though he chocked at the beginning, he could finish his question, this simple question was sufficient to bring everyone else back to reality, and make their brains work too.


    Some of the others students were looking at him with disdain, ''how dare you to interrupt our white princess'' but even if they through that they didn''t said a thing because the white beauty was talking again.


    [Unknown(Angel]: ¡°It is not obvious human child? I counting, or is that you don''t even know what''s that¡±


    Even if her words could be interpreted as that she was mocking him, for her it was a valid question ''what humans teach their children now?'', she has come downstairs to Earth over two thousands year''s ago, something as a school was a revolutionary idea that the humans has thought for themselves, she was quite impressed with it, only a master of numbers would know how to count back them


    [Unknown(student#1)]: ¡°Ch-child? You are not older than me!¡±


    After getting a reply back that he was not expecting, the student was flying in rage, of course he would be, someone half you age enter your classroom in an angel costume and ask you if you know how to count, you would feel insulted


    [Unknown(student#2)]: ¡°Excuse me little miss, but are you loss? And also what are you doing up there and counting numbers¡±


    Some other student could not help but to think that this was some kind of prank like they saw on TV now days.


    [Unknown(Angel)]: ¡°By quiet, all of you, just quiet for now, I need to focus, I will reply all of your questions after I finish counting, after that I will begin the lecture¡±


    [Unknown(student#2)]: ¡°A lecture? Don''t you think you aren''t old enough for giving lectures tu upperclassmen little miss¡±


    [Unknown(student#1)]: ¡°I don¡¯t buy it, if she to give a lecture then I am the director of the school, also why is she cosplaying like that the first day of classes, and why she is playing tricks on us hanging of the ceiling like that¡±


    [Unknown(student#3)]: ¡°But she is obviously counting the class assistance right?¡±


    This time another student has joined the conversation.


    After being interrupted twice in a row, the angel frown has become deeper, she was getting very annoyed, an unexpected problem has just appeared, and she was hopping that it was her mistake, but if not, there was no time to go back and fix it, and what is worse, those children¡¯s where making ruckus, making her lost her focus while she was counting with their constant interruptions.


    With a wave of herbhand, a bliding white light emerged from her hand, covering all the students in the classroom, this time they all were truly froze, they couldn''t move or speak even if they tried.


    [Unknown(Angel)]: ¡°Enough!, hold still like that until I finish, I already say I will answers all of your questions after the lecture¡±


    This time she was really angry, even if she was the angel with the greatest patience of all angels, or so she would boast about, time was a essence here.


    Having the classroom returned to silence the angel carry on with her task.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    [Unknown(Angel)]: ¡°¡­37, 38, 39, and humm 40? 40?... sigh, he really didn¡¯t show today, dumb humans, don¡¯t you guys know the important of the first day of school!, it is the most more important day, I had prepare my lecture for today when you all are reunited in this one place, and to not show up, I..., sigh¡±


    One sigh after another left the small angel lips, if the student that was responsible of making such a beautiful angel frown and sigh were to be here, the rest of the class would beat him until he ask for forgiveness to the white angel for making her put out such a face.


    The angel in the other hand was having a headache of her own, the missing student was a very big problem for her, so she was massaging her own temples, to reduce her mental stress.


    Of course nobody answered she has asked when she was doing her one man act alone, they were still frozen after all.


    [Unknown(Angel)]: ¡°If this were to be a with world with mana, I could teleport the missing student here right away, but without almost any mana in the atmosphere, it would be impossible hard, sigh, and the missing student is not even close to the school, making it harder"


    After a few more minutes of pondering she could only reach one conclusion.


    [Unknown (angel)]: "it is impossible after all, descending to earth that has almost no mana has already restricted a great lot of my power, and all the mana that I have left is being use to maintain the frozen time spell, sigh¡±


    The angel still immerse in her monologue was frowning and trying her very best to come with a solution, but there was none what so ever, she just didn¡¯t wanted to let it go.


    She did a rapid mental calculation, the result was that, with her current mana, it was impossible to teleport the missing student to the classroom and then maintain the frozen time spell long enough to give her complete lecture and then to response the questions the student could have, no, in reality the time she has was already too short.


    With no other choice the angel could only give up the idea to have all 40 students present in her lecture.


    In reality in previous summoning¡¯s, handled by other ¡°less capable¡± angels, pretty much all of the humans are throw into another world without knowing anything at all about the world they would go to, or they didn¡¯t even bother to explain them why they have to go there.


    They were a bunch of lanzy angels like her, the most capable angel of all, and the most trusted by the sole God of this world.


    The conventional angels don¡¯t bother in explaining a thing to humans, they only select a batch of the ¡°best¡± candidates based in what it is known as ¡°hero¡¯s potential¡± and after that they toss them into another world and just cross fingers, hoping for the best,


    As result, the missions still succeeded in the end, but for most of the candidates they would die like cannon fodder, even those with an overwhelming potential could still die easily because their lack of knowledge to exploit their potential.


    This was the first mission god has giving her, so she wanted to do it perfectly and better than anyone else, she has prepared for anything nothing would go wrong with her in charged


    [Unknown(Angel)]: ¡°Well it can¡¯t be helped what used is to be sad or angry for that¡± Even if she saying that, she was skulking inside.


    [Unknown(Angel)]: ¡°We will just bring the missing student when we depart, after being marked by the summoning magic, it will works on you no matter where you are, it is a very good thing that I have already marked all the 40 students long ago just in case, kukukukuku god handed this mission to me so I can¡¯t fail, I am sure that he will praise me a lot¡±


    ''it is me or she is laughing like a rich spoil brat'' is what the students could thought if their brains were working correctly but now, they must be in a dream because the small girl in front of theirs was talking crazy othings about other angles, god other worlds and what not.


    The Angel with golden flaming eyes was clenching her hand into a fist and was putting a pose with a serious expression that truly didn¡¯t match with the cuteness of her actions.


    [Unknown(Angel)]: ¡°Too bad, that student will be missing my super special unique premium lecture and the book written by me ¡°another world transfer and Everything you need to know to not die in the first 3 months¡¯¡¯, even when i make time in my busy schedule, what a rude human jum, unforgivable, well I will leave to you guys to share the lecture notes with the missing student when you see him, there is no time to explain this all over again to a single human child and all contact with this world will be cut after the transfer, sigh, this is why you should not miss a day of school¡±.


    The angel was talking to the students, but they were still frozen and unresponsive, but she didn¡¯t mind that and started her lecture, even if they were frozen they still could hear her just fine.


    [Saltel(Angel)]: ¡°Very well, humans I am Saltel and like you have guessed I am angel, I was handed a personal mission from god, to select and gather the hero¡¯s candidates to be sent to another world, you were all selected to do this mission by me personally, if you must hate someone you can hate me, and now I will start my lecture so you better listen well what I have to say, please hold all your questions until the end¡±


    The angel name Saltel and she was in a hurry after all, so even allowing questions y at the end was a a big gift from her.


    Leaving the questions for the end, for now she will be hammering all the important information in the student¡¯s brains, they were all young so they could learn very fast.


    Saltel mission from god was to solve a request made by the god of another world, to help the humanity and races of a small world called ¡®Athem¡¯, a world where the demon king will soon wage a war to bring the extinction to all races except demons, nevertheless the angels could not be send to another world they were bound to earth.


    Even if they could send angels, the demon God will noticed them and interfere with the sumoning, humans for the other hand, could be sent and they would not be notice for the most part, no until they amassed enough power to carry with their mission.


    The mission that god handed to Saltel was to bring 40 individuals with the potential to become a hero and save that world.


    The strick selection of 40 individuals was left to her only to her, and after a lot or searching around the world, she found the individuals with the best potential to save that world of Athem.


    Funny enough all the individuals where in the same country, in the same school, in the same grade and were in the same classroom, this baffle the others angels, using this as an excuse to say that Saltel was being lazy, they tried to complain about her selection but god interceded and said those candidates would do just fine.


    No one could argue against god so they could only back away and carry with their own task¡¯s to prepared the summoning transfer for the 40 individuals.


    Actually Saltel task was only to mark the candidates to be summoned and nothing else but because it was inverse summoning, the candidates would descent in an unknown place and faraway of each other, they only thing they could guaranteed is that the descent would not kill them.


    That¡¯s why the small and cute angel Saltel planned to give a lecture to the candidates before summoning took place, they were her candidates, her chosen, her Knights and Valkyries, they could not fail, no she would not allow them to fail.


    She also didn¡¯t wanted to send them without nothing against their wills, and with nothing else than knowledge.


    Even with that and their hero''s potential she still felt it was still lacking for the success of the mission.


    So she asked very polite for both gods, Earth¡¯s and Athem¡¯s, to grant the candidates their blessings, and they accepted, they granted a blessing in the form of a wish, these wishes were not omnipotent, but you could considered them as ¡®choose a cheat¡¯, and they would have two of them.


    Saltel could not be more pleased, the mission successes was nothing but guaranteed by now, nevertheless she knew that power without knowledge is meaningless, so she also put a book and a lecture together for the candidates, the lecture from the small cute angle was very important for their survival.


    She though that, without her guide there was a 95% chance for them to end like the dinner plate of some monster


    And that¡¯s how a bunch of unwilling students were sent to another world, plus one missing kid that the others didn''t know who it was because it was the first day of school after all.


    The missing kid was dead sick in his bed and was force to stay in home by his parents was dragged to another world while he was sleeping, without any explication what so ever from a cute angel with big breasts

 Chapter 1: Deathmatch Forest

    Chirp chirp chirp¡­¡­ (Silence)...¡­..CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP!


    [Cyan]: ¡°Too noisy¡±


    Cyan has just woken up because the noisiest birds he has ever listen to, they were chirping away in his window like if they were playing a concert next to his ear, mixed with the birds sounds where other noises too, something like the roar from a lion and after that, a pause, complete silence.


    Cyan could finally go back to sleep, ¡®peace at last¡¯ was what''s he thought, but this silence was only temporary, even louder chirps could be heard now.


    He didn¡¯t give it to much thought''s to the roar because the chirps where drilling holes his brain by this point, with his eyes still closed, his hearing was somewhat enhanced, making the noises unbearable for a person that was trying to fall sleep after being woken up, like if you were trying to sleep and someone enters your room with a vacuum cleaner.


    He rolled over his bed to the other side, putting his back in the direction of the ¡®window¡¯ while putting his pillow over his head, trying to reduce the amount of sound that was hitting in his ears.


    After a few minutes or so the chirping has somewhat lessened, but he notice a new problem has shown up.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Too hot, arghh, sigh, I am tired of this¡±


    Having no other option, being the heat or the noise, Cyan rollover his back while opening his eyes wide open, but, he closed his eyes as soon as he has open them up.


    Now Cyan was groaning in pain, ''too bright'', the reason was the blinding light of the shining sun, today nothing was going the way he wanted, in other circumstances he should be looking at the ceiling inside his bedroom, but something has gone horrible wrong.


    ''Where is the ceiling and where is my room'', Cyan brain has halted his line of thoughts, and was now using his hand to cover his eyes.


    After sitting in his bed and adjusting his eyes to the light in his surroundings Cyan started to get more and more confused.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Since when my bedroom has become a forest¡± what he just said could be interpreted like a cheap title for a comedy show that would prank theirs guests.


    Looking directly in front of him, there was a huge tree a few meters away, it was tall tree as matter of fact, in the entire life of Cyan, he had never seen a tree as tall as this one in person, only trough the internet he could see pictures of trees like this one, and this tree was not alone, there were a dense pack army of trees surrounding him, he could not see beyond the first row of trees, and because they were densely packed it was making the forest of trees look dark and ominous.


    The weirdest part was, he was in the middle of a small clearing and together with him was his bed, he was like a sore thumb in the middle of this clearing, Cyan could not help but to fall back to his bed in shock, his bedroom was gone, the only thing remaining was his bed, pillows and sheets.


    To the even more shocked Cyan, he heard a man''s voice behind him.


    [Unknown]: ¡°Have you awoken boy? Then let me tell you a history now¡­¡°


    Surprised by the voice of some unknown person, Cyan turned around to find who the owner of this unknown voice was.


    After turning around he could see a man was sitting in a corner of his bed, ''how could i hadn¡¯t noticed him before?'' Cyan thought to himself, the answer to that questions was very easy, the man was not there just a second ago.


    He was a tall and robust man, he was bald with a somewhat aged face, and was putting a big smile like, he has found something funny and was ignoring Cyan shocked face.


    In other circumstances Cyan should be glad to hear another person¡¯s voice, well maybe no, he blinked a few more times but nothing has change, the man was still there, and without minding the surprise face of Cyan, that person started narrating an epic tale like a machinegun, not giving him any time to Cyan give the man reply or to even say anything at all, like that the man started narrating his own tale.


    [Unknown]: ¡®You were sleeping so peaceful in this curse forest, that I must admit it, I was very curious about you, i was even tempted to wake you up myself, to even managed to put such a fancy and comfortable bed inside this clearing¡­ inside this forest, when the best bed you could hope to get in here, in the cold of nights, would be a huge pile of¡­ rocks¡¯


    The unknown man face darkened while he shook his head, but that only lasted for a second, his face returned to a calming expression with the same bright smile he had before.


    [Unknown]: ¡®Sleep too deeply and drop your guard down even it is just a little bit, and you will find yourself in the afterlife in the next moment hahaha, nothing is better than a bed made of rock¡¯s, well I lied, but at least it is better that sleeping 3 feet¡¯s in the ground¡¯


    Now the man was laughing, but Cyan still couldn''t... ''What is this man talking about...'' but even so Cyan could find the right timing to talk and ask that man what he was up too.


    [Unknown]: [Unknown]: ¡®In here, where the smallest of bugs can crawl into your head and eat your brain away while you go crazy from the pain, unable to do something about it and you can only sit there and wait for the sweet sweet death to come just one second sooner.


    [Cyan]: "Excuse me but..."


    [Unknown]: ¡®And to not even put a defensive spell or the simplest of warnings or traps, I thought this must a trap for sure, I mean, there is no way, there is no way of such thing happening inside this forest right?, who in his right mind would do such a thing, that''s the same thing as committing suicide, are you a bowl of food waiting to be eaten?, but then again the ¡®people¡¯ inside this forest, none of them are in the right mind"


    Now the man face was the reflection of someone that has seen something so unspeakable shocking, that he could not believe if reality was true or not, something that should not even exist in this world inside this huge forest, not even watching a black cat passing by twice, while doing the same exact thing, would make this man question his reality so much.


    [Cyan]: "I... Don''t...let me"


    Even after several tries the man keep ignoring Cyan attempts to interrupt him so he could ask what his all about, the man had just keep narrating his most epics of tales.


    [Unknown]: ¡®And after one hour of checking the surroundings, every cranny, every rock, and I was sure that there wasn''t any trap around, it is that, I dared to come closer to this area, with my guard so high up that I was almost shredding my bones into dust, and with the tension so high, that I would swing my axe to the sound of the wind, ready to fight at any moment¡¯


    On the other side of the bed Cyan was¡­ ''Should I be running away from here now?'' looking how the man was swinging that big axe right now, Cyan was getting afraid of what would happen next if he makes the man angry if he interrupted him when he shouldn¡¯t.


    Wouldn''t you be afraid is some unknown person has come next to you and start to swing a huge axe in front of you? Of course, the first thing you would be thinking of doing would be, run away first, ask questions later, but in this open clearing, run to where?


    And the man looks shows that he was weak at all, even if he looked aged, but his well tone muscles of his arms were like a log, in cooperation with the noodle arms of Cyan.


    As proof of his own strength, he was swinging that big axe around like toy, you would first think that, the axe must be a weightless toy right?, but the air pressure that was being generate every time the man swung his axe, was definitely not something a weightless toy could generate, no, that axe was very real, and it should weight like 100 kilograms, and that man was swinging it like nothing, like a toy, ¡®running off? Don¡¯t joke with me, you try to run I will stay right here¡¯.


    Actually the true reason he has not escaped right away, was because the man don''t look he had ¡®bad¡¯ intentions at all, at least that¡¯s what Cyan though after seeing the sparling eyes of the unknown man, he was definitely narrating an epic tale, after his initial shock Cyan was now enjoying the show, that the man was putting out, the man still ignored rapid changes of face that Cyan was making, no, he has taken this as that Cyan was moved my his tale, so he swung his axe with more vigor now, like acting out a big battle.


    [Unknown]: ¡®I don''t had any bow with me or weapons to throw so I was left with no other choice but to come close to this clearing myself, with each step I took, I was feeling like I was like gambling my life away, half way through it, I though this must be a prank of the god''s, that they were testing me, and after coming right next to you, so close that I could even touch you, and I was ready to swing my axe and start a fierce combat to death, what I find?, I find you sleeping like a baby HAHAHAHAH, i.. i almost burst into laughter right there, I thought now I had seen it all, but I stopped myself for laughing i didn¡¯t wanted to wake you up¡¯


    [Unknown]: ¡®I mean, everyone that enter this god forsaken forest are criminals of the worse kind, and the only way out, is to gather at least one thousand head''s, now why is there such stupid rule that allows the worse kind of criminals to escape this prison was even made and put in place huh?


    Was this a question for Cyan? The man was putting a face that looked like he was making a question to Cyan, while pointing his axed to him, something like ¡®what would you do in you had being in my place¡¯, but, before Cyan could reply, the man started talking again, like he was not expecting to Cyan to actually say a response that question, the whole process has being quite frustrating for Cyan, ¡®can you stop and let me talk! I need to ask where I am¡¯ was what Cyan was thinking inside his mind, but mas still carrying on with his ¡®act¡¯.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    [Unknown]: ¡®I don¡¯t know why this rule was put in place, maybe they want to give us hope, but frankly I don¡¯t care. There is a way out of this hell, and i plan to earn my ticket out of here, there are no other exits of this forest, you can only use one of the six doors to exit this forest, after you gather enough ¡®points¡¯, apart from that, the only choices left are only death and hunger, if there is a place called hell in Athem is without a doubt this ''Deathmatch Forest''¡¯


    Cyan felt like clapping, was this the end of his epic tale? Should he clap now? The man acting was superb, the ranged of emotions he has shown were varying, and they felt so real, like if it was the man actual life narrate before Cyan eyes, but before he could start clapping, he felt that the temperature had dropped a few centigrade, even standing on the open below a fierce sun, he was felling chilly, it was very noticeable, the man face has turn solemn now, like he has told the most epics of tales, and now it was time for... the end of the tale, the final battle against the boss.


    [Unknown]: ¡®sigh, And¡­. here you are, sleeping like an innocent baby, without a care in world, I must say, a better fate, a kindly fate (end), is for you to had your history end here by my hand, while you were sleeping, without letting you knowing anything at all and without letting you feel any pain what so ever, I was trying to decide this while you were still sleeping but¡­ I just couldn¡¯t come to a decision, and now you had finally woke up, making me run of options, I knew it, I was making the wrong the decision, and I knew i was running of time, but could not made the choice in time boy¡­, at least let me hear your story, before the end¡¯


    Cyan was sure, he was not just his imagination, the man before him didn¡¯t have any evil intentions, he knew how to judged people character correctly, with just one look at their eyes, he could know the true, the man eyes didn¡¯t show any signs of ¡®bad¡¯ or ¡®evil¡¯ intentions, no, on the contrary, those where the eyes of someone that wanted to ¡®help¡¯ him, to the point he would feel a great amount of regret for not being able too.


    But he could felt something was definitely wrong ''this is not right, just before he was giving a warm feeling, like telling a bed story to his own son, why, why this man feel so cold now'', should he be running now?, could he truly not out run him?. The true was, that, it was too late for Cyan to run away, no, from the moment he has arrived to this forest, it was too late to run away.


    Now the man was showing a tire face like he was too tire to carry on with the end of the store he has just given up, this story was not heading to a good ending¡­ for Cyan that is, and the man didn¡¯t wanted to continue the history but, it would be worse no to end the history.


    [Unknown]: ¡®Who did you even angered so much to be thrown in a place like this, I don¡¯t think you are a criminal like the rest of¡­ us, no, I can tell by your smell, you smell like old books, even being so young you like to read so much huh, sigh, whatever, i don''t think you are one of those monsters, i had seen your kind before, people that don¡¯t deserve to be in here in the first place, but are still thrown in here¡¯


    The regret and tiredness he was showing, vanished a moment later without a trace left.


    [Unknown]: ¡®Well, it doesn¡¯t matter how it was that you ended in here, your kind never last very long, they always kill themselves if they are lucky and have the chance, if they are stupid and think they can escape on their own, they can manage to last a little bit longer, but they always would end with a worse fate, I must say, hope surly is your worse enemy in this forest, because¡­, the monsters can smell it, they are attracted to it, what they enjoy the most is to hunt a prey fill with hope of getting away from them, those monsters here with us, are worse than the worse of criminals, and what¡¯s worse, the kings and queens of the continents, put all those that fit the bill in here, just to kill each other in the most brutal and heartless way, well what you think they would do, if not that?¡¯


    [Unknown]: ¡®but¡­ your kind, they always enter by using one of the six entries, but¡­ you¡­ from where did you¡­ pop out? I mean we are too deep into the forest, if you had enter using one of the six entries it would be very hard to reach this place for you, no,'' the man shook his head, ¡®it should be impossible for you, to make it so deep into the forest, and then there is that bed, no matter how I look at it¡­ you¡­ pop up from thin air, and that¡¯s¡­ very interesting¡¯


    [Cyan]: "i...." this time around he was sure the man was making a question directly to him, but before Cyan could even reply.


    The Unknown person voice that was very calm and compose and looked he was near the end of his tale, even if he was narrating the end, not a single bad emotion was reflect in his eyes, but the boy in front of him was too puzzling.


    As for Cyan, his best hope was... for this man to ask for money at the end for his performance, but... That was just his own disillusion, Cyan was in denial of the true.


    [Unknown]: ¡®Now, a child in a place like this, so deep into the forest, why are you still alive? why are you still¡­ intact? and sleeping with such calm face, filled with... hope, with no traps or anything at all¡¯.


    The man face calm but you could still feel a hint of the deepest regret, like he knew what it has to be done but he was stopping himself of doing it, but actually not doing it would be even worse for¡­ the boy.


    [Unknown]: ¡®i have my own reasons to get rid of you right away kid, but i am little curious about your history, you are very lucky that, today i was the very first ''person'' to find you, at least... you can be happy about that in the end. I will ask for your mother forgiveness in the next life kid.


    ¡®Nothing can change the destiny of a person that had enter this forest unprepared, being me or ¡äsomething¡¯ else, his life has come to an end today, be grateful kid¡¯


    The man that was talking like a machinegun at the beginning has finally¡­ stopped talking and with a sigh, the man expressions was now is back to how it was at the beginning, calm and smiling away with a carefree attitude.


    The man name was Arlom and he was narrating an epic history to Cyan, his own epic history, midway he has took the chance to add an explication of a forest known as the Deathmatch Forest, and how the protagonist of the history has ended in there, as to the part of why Cyan is life was¡­ completely hopeless now.


    Those were all his inner thoughts, and nothing of that was being told to Cyan while he was narrating the his own history, but the story matched with his own feelings, so Cyan didn¡¯t notice anything wrong, no until near the end that is, that cold wind was still in Cyan mind.


    Arlom history was one of those histories that you find in a fantasy book, a dark past, that started like any other history, with a shining hero, in a quest to save some one, a love one, his own wife, it was the mission of his life, one that he could not give up nor surrender, one mission that ended in failure, it ended when Arlom wife died at the hand of her captors, only because Arlom was getting too close to them, then and there, they kill her and ran away like the cowards they were, with all hope lost Arlom when mad, and just he just wanted to drop dead in a pit.


    But like any other history there was still hope for him at the end, Arlom son, hidden away from her captors and even Arlom himself, it was only revealed to him in a letter from his dead wife, sent before she was kidnapped and delivered after she was killed, the letter had very little clues about his own son but, having fail once, this time nothing would stop him from finding his son, he will never give up to find it.


    He could not revived her wife but he would go back from the death just to find and protect his son, even if he was thrown the darkest of pits, he will crawl his way out, he will not stop searching, even with almost no clues, his son is the only thing that prevents Arlom from falling in the deepest of hell himself, and once there, there would not be a way out, nor shining light that could save him this time, in the darkest of pits, only true monsters are found.


    Arlom history took another dark turn after being betrayed by whom he thought was his friend, and ended in this forest of monsters, this Deathmatch Forest, but by this time, for him this just was another wall blocking his path, another stone to step on, he will go through it and carry his mission, get out of here, get his revenge, and to find his son in the process, no goal was more important that finding his son, but he will carry on both if one doesn¡¯t inference with the other, his goals were as clear as day, as shining as the sun, lighting up his path to take, and those all were the pieces that hold, the man knowns as Arlom, together, a house of card so frail, and yet he was talking to Cyan like nothing of this matter to him, it was very hard to make him stop talking actually.


    [Unknown]: ¡°Look at me talking to no end, I am sorry boy, it has being years since I talked to someone that is not trying to kill me, right away with all their strength, well now you must tell me, what it is you name I can¡¯t call you ¡®boy¡¯ forever, oh right right, my name.. hum, should i tell you my name? It has being so long that I had used it, well whatever, my name is Arlom, what¡¯s yours?¡±.


    The true be told Cyan would have fainted in the spot and even maybe, never wake up again, if he could understand what Arlom was actually saying, his history and where he was, after all, he have just wake up and some strange old guy was sitting in his bed talking to him nonstop on and on, but the worse part was that¡­ he didn¡¯t understood anything Arlom said, every time he tried to stop him to ask him in what language he was talking, and that he could not understand him, he would be ignore¡±


    The only thing Cyan understood from all of this, was as if someone was talking to him in French with a mix of other idioms, and the only true thing he could pick up from what the man was saying, and for some reason unknown to Cyan, was Arlom own name.


    Cyan was speechless, what he could say to the smiling bald man sitting next to him who he didn''t speak the same language, nevertheless, just his next a few word¡¯s would bring very big change in Arlom, one that you can call fated, Cyan looking back on his first day on this planet, always thinks of this day as his best and worse memory of all time.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Arlom?¡±


    Arlom nodded his head.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Arlom¡±


    Arlom nodded his head again, looking somewhat puzzled.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I am sorry to say this Arlom, but.... I will be honest here, i actually didn¡¯t understand anything you just said, what language is that, I mean what idiom are you even speaking, is that French?¡±


    Arlom shook his head, he had forgot about it, in his dilemma he has forgotten something so important, it was not the first time this ''problem'' happen, the ¡®monsters¡¯ that come here are from all around the world and most of the time they didn''t know the language of other country¡¯s at first, they would learn or they would die, but having another ¡®human¡¯ to talk to such as this boy was a first, and here he was, talking nonstop, ignoring if the child could understand him.


    Having understood that they were in fact not talking the same idiom, Arlom was hoping at very least get a name from the boy, he had given up in listening his story, after getting his name, he will end this history for good.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I am Arlom, and you are?¡±


    Cyan having guessed that Arlom was trying to establish some kind of communication and mutual understanding so they could at least call each other names, what Cyan didn¡¯t know was that names in planet Athem were big things, his in particular was something Arlom could not ignore.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Nice to meet you Arlom, I am Cyan¡±


    As soon has his words where heard, Arlom mind frozen up, he stop breathing, Arlom heart has stopped beating like frozen, like if all Arlom functions had being stopped by an invisible wall, Arlom has promised himself to block all walls and here he was, a new wall has appeared in front of him.


    [Cyan]: "Arlom? Arlom are you ok? Arlom!"


    Cyan panicked and started to call his name but there was not reaction at all.


    ¡°Dear Arlom


    I am writing to tell the good news, you are the father of a healthy little boy now, he looks are so much like you, I am sure when he grown up he will be good looking just like his father, i am sure he will grow to become tall and strong like you, sorry for hiding this from you, but I was afraid of the possibility losing this baby and I didn¡¯t wanted for you carry this burden with you, my possible failure in my duties as your wife, now now, I will be recovering for the few next days in my Father¡¯s home, he was insisting so much that I could not refuse, but I still will not bring my son to that house, even if father was insisting on that too, so I will leaving Cyan with my sister, yes, Arlom, our son is called Cyan, after looking at his eyes that¡¯s the only need name I could give him, Please look after him with all the love you have for me, if not more.


    Sincerely Yours - Unknown


    PD: I hope to see you soon

 Chapter 2: Serah

    Chapter 2 : Serah


    Cyan panicked because of the lack of response of Arlom, What happen to the talkative man from 5 minutes ago to be now dead silent.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Arlom are you ok? You don¡¯t had say anything in the last 5 minutes¡±.


    Even after shaking Arlom to make him respond, Arlom didn''t reacted, he has a lot to ask to this man in front of him, this being a dream? ¡®Don¡¯t joke with me¡¯ Cyan though, what dream can be so real, what dream start by being woken up by birds, none.


    Being able to shake Arlom trying to make him come back from his trance to reality was all the proof he need to be sure, ¡®I don¡¯t know how or whom, but to drop me together with my bed in this forest, this is too much, what kind of joke is this¡¯.


    Cyan could not believe his own luck, he has forgotten that he was sick and should be resting in his bed instead of shaking a man with all his strength, but none of that matters any more to him, right he needs answers.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Hey Arlom, I need you to tell me where I am, do you speak another language, Hello, Arlom, Arlom?¡±


    After some more shakings Cyan wanted to slap Arlom face but before he could, Arlom eyes regained their lost focus, sadly for Cyan it was not because Arlom understood anything thay he was saying or because the shaking, no it was because Arlom has detected another presence in the surroundings snapping him of his trance to reality.


    ''how careless i had been, sigh''


    A nee voice was heard, a female voice this time around and it was coming from deep into down in the forest, but at the same time it was like, it was coming from everywhere, this voice tone was very soft and sweet, like a whisper that you didn''t even know from where it was coming.


    [Unknown]: ¡°wow Arlom for you to drop you guard, and by so much so, that I was able to come this close to you, this is my lucky day hahaha, this is so unlike you, but it seems I need to give my thanks to that boy besides you, ahhh I was barely able to restrain myself, after I saw him, what do you say if we shared him, I will take one half and you take the other¡±.


    Cyan could not tell what the other person was saying, but for the serious face that Arlom was showing, he understood it''s wasn''t something good, the same cold wind he has felt before coming out from Arlom a few minutes ago was back, but now at full force.


    Inside the mind of Arlom his gears where spinning at top speed. He was no fool, he knew very well whom she was, ¡®Share? Do you think I am fool? the only thing these monsters dare to share is dead, you are not coming close just because I had lay down a lot of traps before coming here myself or you would have attacked without saying anything at all, no, you reveling your presence was the beginning of your attack already.


    Arlom was cursing inside his mind, all of this because a moment of weakness, he knew very well what was the end for the weak in this forest, no, end was not enough to describe it.


    ''damn monsters, to show such a weakness just now in front of one, it''s that i had not learned anything after so many years?''


    ''i knew it was a mistake from the very start but that¡­ that name, how it could be¡­ to end in this place too like me, I don''t have the time for thinking about that now, I need to move fast.


    ''I must protect him, even if there is 10% of chance, no, even if there is only 1% of chance that he is my son, I can¡¯t give up, not now, not here, not when I am his side, even if, is in this hell with those monsters, no, especially in this hell¡¯.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan, stay here and don¡¯t move, you will be safe here"


    Looking around and seeing the worry and confuse face of Cyan, Arlom could not help but to shook his head. ''thats right, he can''t understand anything I say, sigh''


    [Arlom]: "Don''t worry Cyan, I will protect you, under my name"


    Arlom started to walk to the forest, in that moment Cyan understood the meaning behind those unknown words, in conjunction with the face Arlom and showing before walking away into with a solemn look.


    He understood it, it was like when a warrior was going to slay a dragon while saying to his family ¡°I will be back, wait for me¡±


    Inside Cyan mind everything was confusion and fear ¡®this is not a dream, what in the world is happening, where I am¡¯. He only wanted to run away to anywhere else and didn''t wated to stay here, but the words of Arlom were like he was trying to calm him downand also like a warning, ''don''t do anything stupid and stay put'', no Cyan knew he should not move from here, doing so would be stupid.


    Arlom didn¡¯t thought Cyan was his son in the spot just becausea name, but his eyes were of the same color, cyan, it would be to hard to believe just with a name otherwise, his eyes and name, those weremostly the only clues that Arlom had.


    Fake lead''s, people with name of Cyan also existed, but... having the same cyan eyes... not so much, one thing he was sure of, Cyan could not lie about his own name, nor he would need to.


    His frail hope didn¡¯t allow him to believe in everything right away, even if his own son were to show up right now, he would not run while crying to give him a hug just to fall into a trap, or that''s what Arlom himself has thought for many years.


    But at the end, those were just words, even if was for a moment, he had in fact loweredhis guard at the mention of his son name, from a person he never expected to find inside this forest at all, from a person he never wished to find inside this forest, Arlom worse fear has come true now.


    Internally he was cursing his own weakness over and over again, but what is done is done, now they need to get out of this one alive, both of them, there is not another way around it now.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Stop playing games with me ¡®hunter queen¡¯, nobody shares a prey in here, also your head count should be close to be able to exit this forest, why not go for other more easy to hunt prey, I just happen to had a little battle with the ¡®twin swords¡¯ a while ago, and they are pretty hurt right now, I am sure they hadn''t recovered as of yet, if you hurry and go north you could catchthem pretty easily, two heads for the price of one, and then you buy your ticket out of here, if not that what you want?¡±


    [Unknown(Hunter Queen)]: ¡°huhuhuf, to be able to ¡®hurt¡¯ the ¡®twin swords¡¯ and to boost about it, amazing, Arlom you are amazing, my head count is indeed very close to the end, no, in fact, I am only in the need for one more head, hufhufhuf, guess whoshead will be? huhuhuh"


    Arlom face twisted in anger, the hunter queen was just ''playing'' with him, she has come here directly to hunt him down, it was not she has ''casually'' found him, i mean, who even would able to ''casually'' to find him, no, it was something else, she was feelinggreat pleasure to hunt... the King of Hunter''s.


    [Unknown(Hunter Queen)]: "I will be able to truly call my self the¡®hunter queen¡¯ after killing you, the Hunter King, and i get your head then i will be known as the next Hunter Queen, and for that, I had being tracking you down for weeks, but you never lowered your guard even once, you know the amount offrustration you had cause me? hum do you? How do you plan to compensate me for this?"


    Even while the were talking both sides were preparing their positions for the incoming fight, the real fight will only take a few minutes, and by that time all talkwill cease for ever for one of the sides, a fight were a good place hit would mean the end, the hunter queen could not actually casually walk close to Arlom, her initial position for the start of the fight was the best that could be, she got the adventage and worse than all, she knew that very well.


    Arlom could only grit his teeth trying to find a way out of this mess, just something, even the small of mistakes she has overlook, a path toescape and make a surprise attack at her, hopefully winning the fight.


    Arlom was keep searching for an exit that would allow he and Cyan to walk alive fromthis.


    Meanwhile the hunter queen has not stop talking.


    [Unknown(Hunter Queen)]: "Actually, i had a confesion to make, i was the one that had sent the twins swordsagainst you, I hoped that theywould a lest ¡®hurt¡¯ you a bit, it must beshame for you, but I had already killed them"


    Arlom could picture the hunter queen making a creepy smile while saying this, but he still hold himself back, after a light pause, the hunter queen was still continuingly provoking Arlom anger.


    [Unknown(Hunter Queen)]: "you should had look at their faces when my blade pierce into their hearts, and they thought I would help them to exit this place if they help me get your head?, what stupids siblings HAHA, at the very least, they help me to reduce my head count to just one more head, but they didn¡¯t even put a scratch on you, they were so usless, I was very disappointed on them, but that''s what i get for getting my ''hopes'' up"


    Arlom knew this was just a blank provocation just to make him move first, but he can do anything about it, doing a rash move would only meant dead.


    But to even talk crap about those siblings that he had... not kill, no, he was feeling regret for their deaths, even if they were his enemies, he let them go, those siblings were... humans themselves, they had survived by suporthing each other backs, a truly moving history.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Even if Arlom truly wanted to end everyone that comes after his head, doing so would transform him into something he didn''t wanted to be, that would make him a monster too, like everyone else in here.


    No, at the end of that fight, hey made them promise in their names to never come after him, a promise in this forest was worth... nothing at all, but, one in ones name after brokenwould mean losing ones name... and the powers your name had, and all the promises in name are guarranteed by the gods.


    If they were willing to sacrifice their names and come after Arlom again, it would be the same as committing suicide in front of Arlom, but now, none of that matter becouse the end has come to them anyway, ''this damn forest'',


    Of course the hunter queen knew this, she knew that Arlom has spare them and make them promise to nevercome after him again, thats why she just kill them off, they were useless to her now, well not completely useless, they still help her to decrease her ''points'' needed to exit the forest, and now she was using their names and memory to provoke Arlom, but at the end that didn''t work, Arlom was the Hunter King after all, even if he regret it now, nothing will change.


    There was one thing Arlom was counting on, he was also known asthe king of the cheat trick''s, and no cheat tricks, like the Hunter queen was trying to pull will work on him.


    [Unknown(Hunter Queen)]: "But it didn¡¯t matter, I must give that boymany ''thanks¡¯ after I am done with you, tell me what he did to you for you to lower your guard? i am sure it was for the stupidest of reasons, but at the end, i am sure he will be the perfect reward after i am done with you, and after that, I will exit this place, undefeated like my predecessor, and like the your predecessor you will be killed by me the next queen¡±.


    Seeing that trying to provoke him with the twins didn''t work, the Hunter queen shifted her focus to something else, something far more interesting.


    [Arlom(Hunter king)]: ¡°What nonsense are you talking about, I never called myself a King nor I knew someone called Hunter King, you damn monsters playing games only because you are so damn bored, you better stop your ¡®talking¡¯ and run away from me now, I am not in the mood to be playing games with you right now, but if you are tired of living then come, i will end you right here, right now, hear me well you monster I am Arlom, and i will leave this place like a human, not like a monster¡±


    This was the last warning Arlom could give her, and he will start moving now, ''last chance hunter queen, if there is not a path, then i will make it myself, you better stay away from my path, those that dare to cross it, will pay''


    The hunter queen like Arlom a few minutes before, didn¡¯t shut up at all, like a third rate villain, was blabbing and babbling about her infancy, how she got here, how was her beginnings inthe forest, and her plans when she get out of here, who she will kill, what delicious food she will be eating, where she will go, who she will kill, how she will get a pretty boyfriend, how she is going to kill him and get another one and after that what she would do to him too, and so on.


    This was a very common practice in here, they would never stop talking when they found their prey, they could not hold this kind talk to anyone else becouse most of the time they were alone, so they try to make the best out it, and their prey will be dead afterwards, so they could be so open that the sensation was, refreshing to say the least, even some ¡®monsters¡¯ will make their hunts take longer so they could talk more and more until they run out of things to say.


    The never ending talking was actually not a random thing, it was because of two things:


    Number 1 they are here to kill you or to be killed


    And


    Number 2 narrating their history it was a show of respect, if you kill them at the very least their history will be a live on you, the strongest, even in this god forsaken forest, these monster had respect for the strong and hold the weak in contempt.


    Like everything else in this planet they wanted to live on, even if just like a story you heard once, an story that has become your part of you... part of your power, and to be part of something bigger than they were.


    Monsters or Hunter''s, it was the same for Arlom, to him everyone in here was a monsters or something that would become a monster into the future or end dead.


    But like in everything else, there are exceptions, there are not obsolutes in life, there is people that didn¡¯t talk at all, or even those that were not hunters nor monsters but humans, like Cyan, like those siblings and maybe...like Arlom, Arlom was not very sure anymore what he was after so many years.


    The only difference between the monsters and the hunters was that, the monsters will stay in the forest, even after they got the requirement of heads to buy their exit ticket.


    To Arlom it was just another game to name themselves like this, because they were bored to dead or they could not cope with reality, nevertheless he played the game too.


    No, he was forced into it, he needs to play, if he wanted to exit this place using one of the six gates. And like most of the monsters and hunters, Arlom talkativeness in battle was match only for the others kings and queens of the forest.


    Even with all that, their histories are only known to a very few people, preys that they didn''t kill or even friends, if you can find someone to call a friend that is.


    Asking someone their history was the same as challenging them to a Deathmatch, hearing someone history was being challenged as well, how can you become ¡°friends¡± with someone in this forest?, of course, a temporary alliance exist, but they can only be called a temporary and nothing more.


    From the moment the hunter queen started talking it meant, that all her preparations were done by now and the fight was already taking place.


    The trap''s Arlom has put in place in the surrounding area before coming to the center of the clearing was the only thing that has stopped the Hunter queen of truly doing a surprise attack just now, if she couldn''t enter then she will make Arlom come to her.


    ''tsk, truly the king of cheat tricks'' were the thoughts of the hunter queen after realizing she could not come any closer to the clearing, ''but, no matter'', she has come for a reason.


    A prey that has drop his guard and would die in the first attack, didn¡¯t deserve to hear her history nor even her voice in the first place, but more than that, the hunters are no fools themselves, even if they are playing some kind of ¡®game¡¯ that didn¡¯t not meant they would not place surprises attack¡¯s just to ¡®talk¡¯, no matter how much they would like to talk.


    Unless you are absolutely sure that you could kill your target head on, and you could take your chances that way, if not, then a well place trap was the best answer, and if the targets dies with just that, what use is talking about their history in the beginning, weak dont deserve any respect, at least thats how monsters and hunter think.


    Now If we look back when Arlom had meet with Cyan for the first time, he was also narrating his own history to Cyan even if the later could not understand him, this was a show of respect too, not for the strong but, the helplessly weak that could not kill the strong.


    Only with the extremes of luck they can, because it was not the strong that wins but the winner that would become strong, even so, you also could guess what was coming after Arlom finished telling his history to Cyan, you can also say that Cyan has definitely not become a friend of Arlom either.


    After all, even after so many years Arlom still has a soft heart, he didn¡¯t wanted to Cyan to ¡®suffer¡¯ at all, but at least he wanted to hear his history if he could, he thought, thiswas giving Cyanthe best ¡®end¡¯ for his history after all, he could not become a babysitter for Cyan, he need things to done to escape, and Cyan obviously would not last a day without Arlom.


    But Cyan has something that Arlom didn¡¯t know and that would be the extremes of lucks,


    #1 to be called Cyan,


    #2 to descent in here in this forest, (if you can actuallycall luck, to fall in hell)


    #3 to be found by Arlom before anyone else.


    And now Cyan¡¯s future depends completely on Arlom wining this fight, he could only pray for Arlom safety.


    Back at the clearing Cyan could hear very clearly the woman and the man known as Arlom talking, but Cyan still could not understand anything they were talking, maybe that was for better mental health of Cyan.


    Inbetween their talking, Cyan could hear a lot of explosions and could feel heat waves coming his way, a battle has started since Arlom figure disappeared into the forest, but Cyan still didn¡¯t move from his bed, every minute that passed, he was getting more and more scared, as the sound of the fight that was taking place, was getting closer and closer to him.


    The woman voice was getting less talkative as time went on as well as Arlom replys.


    Cyan could not see anything beyond the first row of trees and he was too scared to run into the forest, it was all dark even with the shining sun over him, even if he could see something for a instant, it was a blurred figure that will dissipate the next instant like it had never being there in the first place.


    Too many changes were happening at the same time, it is too fast for him, his mind could not catch up, it was only 15 minutes ago that he had wake up and a strange green man was talking to him endlessly in a language he never had heard, follow by another person voice that never had show up from the forest.


    Her tone was very very different from Arlom, his brain only could send him one and only though, that voice is dangerous, this place is very dangerous.


    After 5 minutes into the fight there were already explosions very close to him in, what you can call an all-out battle was happening just a few distance away, he could not see anything of it but he could feel that, moving from here only means death.


    Cyan could not move from his spot even if he wanted, afraid of something bad happening if he did, but in the next second while trying to think of something out he could do, everything was again in silent


    a new sound was hear, the ruffles sound of someone that was walking in his direction dragging his feet.


    Cyan could now see a black figure getting closer and closer to him.


    First it was all blurred and he could not make a form of the black shadow, but as it was getting closer, he could now make better assumptions, It was definitely a woman¡¯s figure, it didn¡¯t resembled the figure of Arlom at all, the figure he remembers when Arlom was walking deep into the forest, was very different.


    Slowly but surely, step by step, she was coming closer, Cyan was looking over the figure that was getting closer, finally the figure step out of the shadows casted by the trees revealing a beautiful woman, she looked very white, slender and tall, she looked very young, and probably the same age as him.


    [Unknown(Hunter Queen)]: ¡°kukukuku so you are the Hunter Queen prey a prey that he was so fierce in protecting? What a joke, nobody would protect a prey so fiercely, you.. must be very important to him juju cough cough, you¡­. better repa¡­.. him¡­, my name... is¡­.. Serah, ...on¡¯t you forge¡­ my histor..¡±


    The voice grew fainter and fainter until it shup down completely, and once again Cyan only understood one thing and only one.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Serah¡±


    Again Cyan only understood her name, like when Arlom was saying his name, but, something so small as a name was enough for her, with her last breath her name was passed on to Cyan.


    Cyan unconsciously had said her name, and was like the confirmation she was waiting for.


    With a thug, a bloody body filled with holes, where blood was purring like water falls, white, because the blood loss, dropped lifeless into the ground, shewas dead.


    Not even waiting for Arlom to come out from the forest, Cyan got down of his bed and started running in the direction Serah has come from, he only took a small glance toher body and wounds, but he didn¡¯t stop to check if she was alive there was not need to... he was sure she was dead.


    He started running with everything he got into the forest, just hoping to find Arlom as soon as possible, if Serah was dead, then what about Arlom?, where he is, Cyan didn¡¯t think it twice and entered deep into the forest, his figure surrounded by the shadow of trees disappeared into the darkness.

 Chapter 3: To the Unknown

    Chapter 3: To the Unknown


    Inside the dark forest, Cyan eyes finally adjusted to the dark, he could see now the traces of red vivid blood that was left by the Hunter Queen, Serah, and the smell of blood can be easily detected by the undeveloped sense of smell of Cyan.


    Still scared, but even so, ''i need to find Arlom'', overpowering his sense of fear, was one though, ¡®Arlom, must be hurt too, I must find and help him¡¯.


    Even in this unknown place, even if someone has just drop dead in front of him, Cyan was only thinking about Arlom wellbeing, that talkative old fellow with his smiling face that had left a good impression in Cyan.


    Arlom did not have any evil intentions, but Cyan could still remember that cold wind he felt just before Serah voice was hear for the first time, and after that, the cold wind around Arlom has become even stronger, but even so ¡®He was protecting me right?¡¯


    If Arlom had protect him just now, he needs to find him and help him somehow, ''if Serah was like that'', Cyan didn''t wanted to think what the conditions Arlom would be.


    After some running around following the traces he could find, Cyan had arrived to a big hole in the ground where the blood originate from, looking around you could see trees burning with a blue flame and traces of destruction caused by an unknown force, trees being ripped from the ground like if a hurricane has passed by, and some trees were neatly cut in half.


    ¡®This amount destruction¡­ how can two persons do such things¡¯, The scene in front of him has left in stunned, this was taken right of giants monster movie.


    Cyan worries only increase more every second that has passed, in this silent forest he could only think to do one thing, it would be a very stupid thing to do considering the facts, but, he was left the traces of Serah ended in the this hole.


    His clues to find Arlom were cut short now, and in this destruction, trying to find another trace would be ludicrous, no, you can say Cyan thinking was stupid but, it was also the shortest effective way to find Arlom, you even can praise Cyan quick thinking, and guts to not despair at such scene, ¡®I had to give it a chance¡­ every second counts¡ä


    After thinking it again for a fraction of a second, Cyan let out a small sigh¡­ and the he filled his lumps with air.


    [Cyan]: ¡°ARLOM, WHERE ARE YOU, AAAARLOM¡±.


    Cyan started calling after Arlom name as loud he could, and after calling his name for 5 minutes he was getting nervous thinking that maybe Arlom was unconscious or even worse, but all his worries were dispelled when he heard the voice that he was waiting for, and was unexpectedly close to him.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan, you stupid kid I am over here, stop screaming already¡±


    Arlom for the other hand was not too happy to see and hear such careless actions, but deep down he was a little happy that Cyan was alive, after that last attack that costed him a high price, if that attack didn¡¯t kill the hunter queen them it was game over¡­ for Cyan that is, he could escape, but escape with Cyan? What a joke, no all this mess what because of Cyan to begin with, remembering Cyan name once again he smile bitterly to himself.


    Cyan turned around and started moving in the direction that the voice of Arlom had come from, and finally he found Arlom lying down in the ground with his back against a tree, his body was full of wounds and bloody, but worse than that, he was missing his left arm and bleeding profusely.


    Cyan hearth skipped a beat after finding Arlom in such conditions, he was afraid to come closer to him, afraid Arlom would die if he touch him or even to move such a wounded person slightly worsening his wounds, on the other side was Arlom with angry face, which was actually worsening his bleeding.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Such a stupid child, running around in this forest, screaming like a fool, if you really wanted to die so much I will kill you myself right now, come closer so I can use my axe on you, I didn¡¯t save you so you could kill me of anger.


    Letting out a sigh, Arlom anger went down, Cyan was just scared and trying to find him because he was worry about him, he could see that in the stupid face of Cyan, it was the face of someone showing concern for the wellbeing of another person, what strange thing to be seen in this forest,


    Arlom shook his head like shaking all of his anger with it.


    [Arlom]: ¡°sigh, Stop doing things that will get both us killed, why didn¡¯t you waited for me in the clearing like I tell you to, never mind it, forget it, more importantly¡­ where is the Hunter Queen¡±.


    Arlom was now looking at Cyan with a glint on his eyes, ¡®if you are then, she is dead or¡­ this a trap to find me, which one is Cyan?¡¯


    After saying his piece, Arlom eyes were sharp as a knife with his last question, he has never drop his guard even when he was half dead, until confirming the hunter queen dead, he could not relax of course his definition of relax was, that he will not be trying to kill ¡®something¡¯ in the next 5 minutes.


    Cyan was stunned to hear the lively voice of Arlom, but more than that there was another thing, Arlom was still bleeding, he need to stop the bleeding, but, Arlom eyes were very dangerous right now, coming closer to look at his wound and try to stop the bleeding? Don¡¯t joke with me, do you think a dying tiger that has crouch down in a corner will allow to you come closer to look after him? No, a tiger will be willing, after he can¡¯t move any more or is dead.


    But Arlom eyes looked like he would not be willing, even if he is dead and can¡ät move anymore, in that order, his eyes were telling Cyan not to come closer to him, his invitation before to come closer if you wanted to die, didn¡ät sound like a joke right now, he will be really chopped into pieces with Arlom axe if he comes closer.


    No, Cyan has stopped a few distance away from him because he felt it was too dangerous to come any closer, but there was something else in Cyan mind right now, he actually has understood what Arlom has just said.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Arlom¡­, Arlom you know how to speak my language? Forget about that, are you ok? You are hurt so badly, please don¡¯t move so much you are worsening your wounds, please hold until I can get help, we have to stop the bleeding first and look for help, there must be a hospital nearby but I don¡¯t where we are, is there a first aid kid in your tent?¡±


    With a worried face Cyan tried to come closer to Arlom to get a better look over his wounds, that missing arm was to alarming, even before he run somewhere Arlom will die of blood loss, is this it? Cyan didn¡¯t hold any hope for Arlom, never the less he could not get any closer right now.


    [Arlom]: ¡°A Hospital? What is that? You speak the strangest things, also you only realize it now? and you were running around screaming in another language just a second ago without thinking, indeed you are very stupid, child, I am not the one talking in other language, it is you that is speaking in something I can understand, also do you think I am weak like you? I will not die from this wounds, now stop being so stupid and tell where the hunter queen is¡±


    Cyan now realize that Arlom was still talking in a foreign language to him, but at the same time he could understand clear it, like if someone was translating it in his head, ¡®I am the one talking in another language? But how? That¡¯s doesn¡¯t matter right now, what matter is¡­¡¯


    [Cyan]: ¡°By the Hunter Queen do you mean that women Serah? She¡­ I think she is dead, she said some words, but I didn¡¯t understood what she had said, but I somehow understood her name, she was walking into the clearing and dropped to the ground filled with wounds, I was worried about you, so¡­ so using the traces of blood she left, I followed the traces hopping to find you, but Arlom we need to tend your wound before more blood is lost and you¡­ die¡±


    Cyan didn¡¯t care Arlom calling him stupid or what not, a dying person could call him whatever he wanted, this could be his last moment and Cyan would not care at all if was being called stupid, but the most strange thing was that even with those wounds Arlom didn¡¯t look he was at death doors, maybe there was hope after all?.


    By now Arlom has realize that Cyan was actually not his son, so he had no qualms to call him stupid because he was doing stupid things one after the other, well he would call his own son stupid if he did stupid things too, but he was secretly glad that such stupid kid was not his son.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Of course when you fight for someone else sake you will think about the why are you fighting, being friendship, loyalty, or it us just because is the right thing to do, to Arlom nothing of that matter, his reason of fighting was family, if you see this in another angle it was as clich¨¦ as the other reasons but there was a big difference, between those, if Cyan was not actually his son then what? Flee? The answer to that was a big yes in Arlom mind, the hunter queen had prepared some nasty surprises to him, fleeing was the logic thing to do.


    While fighting Arlom has spent some of his precious thinking into doing some mental calculations about if Cyan was his son or not, he actually started doing the math since the moment he heard Cyan¡¯s name, but before he could finish the hunter queen has come attacking.


    His conclusion?


    Cyan¡¯s build was different from his, and they were nothing alike, more than that, he had 25 years inside this forest his son should be already 30 year¡¯s old, he has tried to refute this date but nothing had come up, he had very carefully count each and every day he had spent in here, and the time flowed the same, in the inside as the outside, so there was no way for Cyan to be this young.


    After remembering how many years he had spent in here, Arlom face grew dark, his son was already a grown man already, a life time of searching, a life time of being trapped in here without being able to escape, and this place was an eternal hell to Arlom.


    At the end he had sort things out in his mind and discarded the possibility of Cyan being his son, but Arlom was not a heartless monster, so he had come to a conclusion, if that last attack were he sacrificed his left arm didn¡¯t killed the hunter queen, then he would flee and leave Cyan behind, giving his left arm for Cyan only because he had the same name as his own son? That was already a huge sacrifice to anyone, this end was not something had envisioned.


    [Arlom]: ¡°She gave you her name? Just like that?.... Buhahahahahahaha, Serah huh, at least we can be sure that she is dead if you are alive, coming here and causing me so many damn problems, and then that crazy women had shown up just to give you her name and then die, you truly had a god¡¯s luck¡±


    Arlom shook his head, he was surprised he could understand Cyan now, and now everything was clear, it was because the hunter queen has given up her name to Cyan, of course this was not her title of hunter queen but her own name, Serah, names are power and how do you used them depends on you, it seems Cyan was using Serah name to understand him, even if Cyan himself didn¡¯t notice it.


    ¡®Sigh, you really have the extremes of lucks¡¯, to get a name and to used so well, Cyan was not some as weak as he thought of before, ¡®maybe he can be of some use¡¯, it would be a waste to just let such luck be waste, maybe it was Cyan luck itself that was acting in Arlom, unknown to him when, Arlom has come to a decision, he will take Cyan.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Whatever, I will tell you her history later if you want, some weaklings do really have the extremes of luck, to even get the name of a hunter queen without doing anything at all¡±


    The result was something that Arlom did not expected, Cyan luck was too good to be true.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Come, let¡¯s go to the clearing, we need to loot her body and burn her remains, and we also need move away from this place, I am sure more monsters will come after all that noise¡±


    Using his axe as support Arlom, stood up, and after taking a bottle from no were, filled with a bright red liquid, he drink it, visible to the Cyan eyes Arlom wounds started closing, even the missing arm that was bleeding profoundly a while ago was now closing, until it stopped bleeding altogether.


    Cyan of course was stunned, Arlom that was near death a moment ago, now was walking like nothing in front of him, all his wounds closed leaving behind no scars, if not for Arlom missing arm and bloody clothes, he would never think Arlom was at deaths doors just a moment ago, Cyan was thinking of helping this person just before? Are you joking with me?


    [Arlom]: ¡°Will you keep standing there like a target asking to be kill or are you coming?¡±


    That sounded more like an order more than a questions, Cyan feet¡¯s started to follow behind Arlom even without his knowledge, like if they didn¡¯t wanted to be left behind in this dark place, when they arrive at the clearing, Cyan mind could start to boot again, because¡­ Serah body was still there¡­ in a pool of her own blood, this is when Cyan could catch out, this was not a dream, this was real, someone has died.


    He was still holding to the hope this was all a dream, but the smell of blood was to strong, and the scenes of destruction were to real at the same that too unreal.


    The only thing that was holding Cyan mind from breaking apart was Arlom presence, after he had drank that potion, his mind had being in autopilot, now he has come back to reality, Arlom had obviously protected him, why else had him enter the forest when it was obviously that it would be filled with traps.


    Serah was taking advantage of Cyan presence from the beginning, if the battle had being in the clearing, next to him, Arlom would had to directly protected him, but Serah was not very sure how much would Arlom sacrifice to protect Cyan.


    In the clearing Arlom could choose to give up protecting Cyan life, making Serah to lose his advantage over Arlom in that instant, but Cyan would end dead, not that she care about him anyway. No Arlom was her target from the beginning.


    But if Arlom comes to her, to a battlefield of her choice far away of Cyan, were she could prepare all kinds of traps, Cyan life would not be in danger, but Arlom would take all the burden of a disadvantageous battlefield meaning he was willing to even give his life for Cyan, she could even use that later into the fight, like ¡®if you down block this then that boy is death you know?¡¯, of course at that time Arlom could grit his teeth and take the hit, this fight was very hard, and even until the end Arlom has never given up Cyan life to her


    Well, if Serah knew the true, that, that last hit was as far as Arlom would go, she would puke the remaining blood in her if she had any, at the end she managed to reach Cyan but that¡¯s as far as she could go, a sad ending for her.


    There was no doubt about this in Cyan mind, Arlom was good person in his mind, and for some reason Arlom was taking Cyan with him.


    Cyan could only follow now, his feet¡¯s had understood this before him, so Cyan put all his hope to know what was happening and where he was in the man known as Arlom.


    Arlom did took anything attention to the rapid changes in the face of Cyan, from shock to fear, to relief, to fear again, to hope in found out what is going on.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Her clothes are filled with holes and are worthless now, but at least the ring is still intact, it a shame I can¡¯t use it, damn weaklings luck, Cyan catch, and put it in your middle finger, that would do¡±


    Arlom throw the ring to Cyan that was starlet by the sudden action, he was shaking nervously and looking around, in case of something would come out again from the dark forest, but he still manage to catch the ring, his only though was that Arlom wanted for him to hold onto the ring or something like that.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Ok, Does it matter in what hand I put it in?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°This stupid child, it don¡¯t matter what hand, put it in whatever, now go and move the body to that bed over there¡±


    Cyan looked over the bloody body, but still did what was told like obedient child, he didn¡¯t wanted that the man that did this her, to be angry at him, nor he wanted to be thrown like trash for being worthless person.


    After closing to Serah body, she still look¡­ beautiful, like she was just sleeping with a please face, maybe it was because all that blood loss but her body was very light, carrying her in a princess carry, Cyan put the body of Serah into the bed he was previously using, Cyan thought that if you ignore all the blood, the image of a sleeping beauty Serah was giving was very strong, it is a shame she was death now, the smell of blood did not allowed him to forget this fact.


    In front of the bed was Arlom and Cyan looking over Serah sleeping body, now under the bed were a pile of wood that Arlom has took from nowhere.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I am not a monster like then, this the very least i can do for her, Hunter Queen Serah, you history will be remembered and pass on to Cyan I swear it in my name, Cyan do you want to say something?¡±


    Cyan that was still in a dazed has come back to reality, ¡®word, what should I say to someone I knew only for a few sounds, sigh¡¯.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I didn¡¯t know your name until today, but I will forever remember it, Serah, your name, I will carry with me, so, you have remember mine as well, my name is Cyan remember it well¡±.


    Arlom nodded to Cyan words and casted a fire ball behind Cyan where he could not see, instantly lighting the bed in fire together with Serah body, Cyan didn¡¯t saw where the fire has come from but he don¡¯t care as right now.


    [Arlom]: ¡°To your last resting place to be this comfortable and warm bed, sigh, weakling do really had the best of lucks, come Cyan we have to move¡±


    Maybe it was the words say by Cyan but Arlom did not call him stupid child this time.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°To my base, it is safest place out there and I need some time to recover from my wounds, the middle-level-health potion can only close my wounds and restore some of my blood but it can¡¯t regrown limps, and I don¡¯t carry any of those expensive potions with me¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Regrown limps? Restore blood loss? Middle-level-health potions?¡±


    ¡®Is this an rpg game to you!¡¯ what Cyan wanted to reply but how could he?


    Cyan was shaking, did he heard wrong? No, he had heard it clearly, and that red liquid was a potion?, talking another idiom he doesn¡¯t know only to understand it right away some time later?, and now that he think about it, where did the fire has come out, Arlom chanted some things and the bed lifted in a ball of fire, and all the explosions in the forest, Arlom did not look like it was carrying a box of dynamite with him to make all those explosions.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Stop being stupid and lets go, the base it is not too far away from here, we will arrive in less than a day if we run hurry¡±


    Cyan gulped down all his questions, maybe it was because he was being called stupid so many times already that it was wearing his mind down to be asking more questions only to be called stupid again.


    But his grey matter started to have more serious thoughts, ¡®Arlom had just killed the Serah, he is a murderer, but she was also trying to kill him right? Will he kill me too? To be following a murderer into a dark forest how stupid I am¡¯, this halted his footsteps.


    Hearing Cyan stop walking after him, Arlom stopped and turned around.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Stupid child, are you afraid of me now? There are more scary monsters out there, but no matter if you don¡¯t wanted to come with me it is also fine, go die like a weakling where I can¡¯t see you¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Tell me why you kill her?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°She tried to kill me first so I kill her¡±


    An instant reply, not a shadow of a doubt nor regret for killing her, Arlom just turned around to Cyan and started to walk again to the dark forest, what else was to say, come, not come, ¡®whatever¡¯, it was the same for Arlom, he actually was not even sure of his own actions.


    ¡®To be called stupid again, sigh, what other choice do i have? My only option is to follow Arlom''


    Leaving behind a bed burning in flames, and giving one last look to Serah sleeping face, he started running after Arlom into the dark forest.

 Chapter 4: Third encounter

    Chapter 4: Third encounter


    Cyan was running behind Arlom with a great difficultly and was afraid of be left behind, as for Arlom, this was just a light walk for him, this can¡ät be consider running.


    It didn¡¯t looked like Arlom was badly hurt a while ago, but, If Arlom was still hurt, then, he knew how to conceal it very well, now, it only looked like that was just a cruel joke he did, but, that don''t change the facts that, in the place that Arlom left arm should be, now, it was just an empty space, Arlom has lost his left arm protecting Cyan and that was not a lie.


    After Cyan moved his focused eyes away from the place Arlom arm should had been, he had change his mind about what this place was, this was not a simple forest he got lost into, there was definitely something going on, and Arlom knew what.


    Cyan has seen Arlom wounds closing in real time, something that should not be possible, even for the most expensive medicine in the world, but right now it wasn''t the time to ask those questions, even if they were burning in Cyan confuse mind, as for now, he keep following behind Arlom, well that¡äs is, if he could really keep up.


    After only 20 minutes of running behind Arlom, Cyan body could not go on running anymore, his breathing was too ragged, in the next moment his foot landed in a weird position making him fall down to the ground.


    The terrain was too hard to be walking around let''s not even mention running, this was an uphill battle for Cyan, actually to last as long as Cyan did was already a huge achievement for any kid of Cyan age, well at least for a normal human kid that is.


    Even exhausted, Cyan tried to stand up again, only to stumble and fall down again, he didn''t had any strength left in him at this point. Has Cyan has forgotten? He was supposed to be resting in his bed this morning because he was very sick, but his body has not forgotten that part.


    Cyan could see Arlom back disappear into the darkness of the forest, he was left behind without Arlom noticing it.


    ''I was left behind after all, sigh'', that''s the only thing Cyan could think of, what else is there to do?


    Has he forgotten that his body was sick?


    He was over extending without himself noticing it? And now, this was the price to pay?


    No of course no, He had not forgotten that he was sick and weak, he just pushed forward ignoring this fact, Arlom was not someone that would care about his health, at least, that''s how it looked to Cyan.


    Arlom has never slowed down nor stopped to ask Cyan if he was ok or he could keep up, he didn¡ät asked anything at all concerning Cyan, he was clearly saying, if you can¡¯t keep up then you would be left behind, that was it, and nothing more, and Arlom was not someone that would be playing jokes on people in this forest...


    Of course, how could he not notice it? Arlom was very aware that Cyan was falling behind with every step he took, after all he was going so slowly so Cyan could keep up but it seen this was not enough slow enough.


    His thoughts were to maybe slow down even more, but at this rate other hunter¡¯s will catch up with them soon, or even worse, a monster can show up looking for something fun to do, he don¡¯t have the stamina to deal with Cyan and other problems, even if was not show in his face he was pushed to the limited in the fight he had with Serah, maybe he should had left Cyan in the clearing if he knew Cyan was this weak.


    He doesn''t had the time for each and every weak person that crossed his path, if he did, then he wouldn''t had been possible to stay alive as long as he did inside this forest, actually Arlom was, the longest living Hunter king in the history of this forest, and also the longest living human too.


    But then again, why he had saved and protected Cyan he is just going to toss him aside? there are still uses for him right? With a sigh escaping from Arlom he turned around and returned to were Cyan was.


    After arriving there he stopped in front of Cyan, ''just look at this stupid kid lying down on the ground with a pity look in his face''.


    Arlom shook his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°What are you doing, don¡¯t tell me you are tired after running for 20 minutes with such slow speed, and I am the one that is supposed to be hurt?, didn¡¯t you said that you would look for help and asked for directions to look for help? When I was hurt you looked like you could run much more than this¡±.


    Arlom shook his head, but even with his harsh words, he checked Cyan condition, Cyan was burning with a high fever and was very pale, Arlom had notice that Cyan looked very weak with almost no strength and had a very low speed.


    Maybe it was because Cyan was not that sick before is that, Arlom was feeling that Cyan was way weaker than his initial thought, looking over some imaginary space, Arlom took a bottle from the thin air and give it to Cyan, this time the bottle was filled with a vivid green liquid.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Here boy, drink this you will feel better in no time, but I can''t give you something better than this, for now this would do, we also don¡¯t have much time so we will rest here for 4 minutes before we move out again¡±


    Inside Arlom mind he was worry about something else, ¡®At least i should know what he is up to, in my current condition there is no point of running away from him anyway, sigh, this day keep getting worse and worse, maybe today I will really breath my last, what a joke¡¯.


    Cyan looked the suspicions bottle filled with a green liquid and after thinking over it he drink it at the end, he saw Arlom drinking a similar looking bottle that closed all of Arlom wounds and save his life, that one was red and this one was green but, if Arlom wanted to kill him, he would just swing his axe that is at his back or he didn¡¯t need to come back for him, there is was need to feed him with poison anyway.


    ¡®Can this be a medicine¡¯ Cyan eyes light up.


    Arlom nodded his head after Cyan drink the potion.


    [Arlom]: "Good, there is at least a minimum of trust between us, not drinking the potion immediately means that at least you can use that stupid brain in your head for something, but don''t put your trust in me so easily, and above anything else don''t trust anyone inside this forest"


    Feeling refreshed, Cyan managed to sit down and look to the man in front of him. Arlom was standing like a statue, focusing all his senses in his surroundings, never dropping his guard, even to Cyan, no especially against Cyan.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Why¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Why what¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Why are you helping me so much, you don¡¯t even know me, protecting me from Serah, telling to follow you, giving me medicine, just why?¡±


    After a minute of silent, Arlom started to speak again.


    [Arlom]: ¡°It is because you... my son has the same name that you¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Your son? you have a son?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°That¡¯s right, my son is called Cyan just like you, that¡¯s all the reasons I need, names are powerful tools after all, as well as your history, maybe you can help me to leave this place, the missing piece of whatever you want to call it, but, do you believed in destiny Cyan?¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Destiny? I am¡­ i don¡¯t know¡±. Cyan shook his head, destiny. what is destiny? What was destiny? Outside this forest a game, but inhere, that word weight was feeling entirely different.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Well of course I don¡¯t believed in destiny, but,¡±


    Arlom paused for a moment, a glint can be seen in his eyes, and they grew sharp.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I will forged my own destiny, if there is a reason¡­, no, there must be a reason for finding you, that, and that you have the same name as my son, so I can¡¯t let you die before I hear your side of the history and find a use for you, do you need more reasons?¡±


    Cyan could not refute such an elemental reason, what he could say? ¡®I am not your son so you don¡¯t need to protect me, so what if we got the same name, a lot of people have the same name, and Names are tools? Histories too? Then, what about destiny? Is this tool for you too? Are you really using destiny as a tool too? Logic? This man was beyond logic, at least Cyan logic.


    ''This old man is crazy alright¡¯, but the part that has caught Cyan attention was another thing altogether, in here, where is here, what is this place.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Where are we?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°To not even know where you are, you sure are brainless¡±


    Cyan was being call stupid over and over again, it was hurting Cyan brain by this point but what can he do about it? Be less stupid? But then he needs to admit that he is stupid but Cyan will never admit that, that would cause a mental cycle of stupid¡¯s thoughts.


    Interrupting Cyan ¡®thoughts¡¯ was Arlom, which has given up in Cyan mind already.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Listen well Cyan, I had already told you about this, but I will explain it again¡­ this is the Deathmatch Forest¡±


    ¡®Again? Was this what you were talking about when we first meet?¡¯ but even more important.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Deathmatch Forest¡±


    The face of Cyan that had recover some of his color after drinking the green potion, was now drained of color yet again, ¡®what is up with that omniums name? sigh, maybe today I will really be breathing my last¡¯.


    Unknown to Cyan Arlom was having the same exact thoughts as his.


    On the other size, Arlom now was a little glad, that Cyan was not stupid and he could understand what that name means, not that he actually understood where he was, but with an ominous name like that, who in his right mind would not be shocked, at least for normal human mind that is.


    Of course Arlom could understand that Cyan didn¡¯t know anything about this place, most people knew that it exist and what it should be contained inside it, as for Cyan, Arlom could only take a guess, but, Cyan reaction was¡­ too weak.


    It was the same reaction you will get from someone that didn¡¯t know anything about this place, so he could only elaborate more, they have some time now, and the sooner he knows the better.


    [Arlom]: ¡°If there is a hell in Athem, this is it. In here, the Kings and Queen of the six countries in the continent drop their most dangerous criminals, murderers, and serial killers, they are too strong to be killed or to let them be roaming free in the world¡±


    ¡®And they are too strong to not be put into a good use¡¯, this line was not said to Cyan, the true of the world was not white and black, yes this was a prison, but not all the people that enter it are criminals, it was built by someone thousands of years ago with an unknown purpose, and within the years the human continent has found a good use for this forest.


    [Arlom]: ¡°There are also those fools that want to become stronger or proof themselves that they are indeed strong, they enter to hunt those criminals or other hunters of other countries that here the same as them, they think this place is like a big hunting game, where they can hunt freely, but, criminals or hunters, all of them, are just monsters in human skin for me, there are almost no humans beings in this forest¡±


    Cyan was stunned, if he had hear this early, would he had fainted and never wake up again?, but with everything that has happened, this was less shocking that he thought it would be, no, something has change in his mind, a switch was flipped, maybe his own survival instincts?.


    After his initial shock, he was now very calm, and was absorbing all that information¡­ all that history, like a true sponge.


    He had took noticed of this at first, but, even if he was startled at first with his own changes, now he was ok with it, now, he need all the knowledge he could gather to staying alive.


    [Arlom]: ¡°In other words, this place is a prison where the monsters roan free and the hunters hunt the monsters, and after a hunter get enough points they can leave this place from one of the six gates, they also work as the six entries, any those gates will lead you to one of the six human countries in the continent, this is why this is known as the human continent and we are in the middle of all¡±


    To be more exact, the clearing were Cyan was found was in the middle of this forest, this forest was the middle of the human continent, truly something to contemplated, it was say that the more deep into the forest you go the dangerous become, as for Cyan to appear right in the middle of it, he was truly lucky to be found by a human and not a monster.


    [Arlom]: ¡°The funny thing is that, the only difference between a hunter and what they call a monster, is that, a monster is a hunter that didn¡¯t leave the forest when they got the number of points they are required, they are all hunter at the beginning, the only difference between them, is if the hunter has come here willingly or unwillingly, as for those that remain human, they will too eventually become a hunter and then into monster themselves, that is, if they managed to staying alive long enough¡±


    After Arlom said those words, he contemplated himself, he still called himself a human, but after so many years, can he still be called like that?, the hunter king title was force into him long time ago, and following his own logic, that was the first step, then¡­ he will become a monster too, no, as the longest living hunter king, was he not a monster already? Maybe nobody had told him?Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Looking over Cyan stupid face, Arlom shook those thought out of his mind, a monster would never help Cyan as he did, even if was only because he had the same name as his son, no, the more stupid the reason was, the less probable was that he has turned into monster¡­ right?


    As for Cyan he was considering other matters, unknown to him the mental dilemma Arlom was going through, maybe if he knew, he would offer some words to the broken Arlom, but as of now, Cyan was ignorant of Arlom thoughts.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Wait what? Is not that insanely stupid, to give free tickets for the criminals to exit this place? And those points, are other people¡¯s life¡¯s isn''t it? After they killed even more people they can leave? Or they are to be killed by the Hunters? And also the Hunters not only hunt criminals, but other Hunters countries too? Are they not putting a gun against their own heads and hopping there is not bullet in the chamber, what if a criminal escape? Would not they kill a lot of innocent people after they leave?¡±


    Cyan could not help to retort, a prison was for what? Forget about reforming criminals, this is equal to forging people into criminals themselves, hunters? More like killers in the making.


    Was he was ignoring the fact that, he himself was inside this prison too with those criminals? And without this stupid rule, he¡­ wouldn¡¯t be able to leave?


    Maybe Cyan was aware of that fact, but he could not bring himself into think about doing it.


    Arlom shook his head, but he thought it was really funny for someone to... try to ignore this fact.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Buhahahaha I see you are not from around here, in this place the strong are indeed in need, even if the hunters are crazy, they have their own name and history, it depends how you utilize them, but don¡¯t fret, not even once a monster has left this place, now, time is up we need to move, I also want to hear about your history Cyan, also what is a gun?¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°A gun is a kind weapon, like a bow, but they fire a small projectile, I don¡¯t know much about how they are made, but I know the principles they work on, so I can explain it to you those principles"


    Arlom nodded his head, a new kind of weapon is always welcoming for him, as the king of cheat tricks, and he needs to keep his title intact.


    As for Cyan, to Arlom to not even know what a gun was, it was too much, the feeling that this was an out of place forest was growing inside him, what about the continent? Did he even can remember in earth maps a place with six countries surrounding a forest? In a continent?


    Arlom started to run again not giving a chance to Cyan to think about this matter, so Cyan stood up after regaining his strength made the same choice as before, to follow behind Arlom, still pondering over it.


    Would he really able leave this forest still as himself, after killing a bunch of persons he doesn¡¯t know? Even if they were criminals, the price was still ending someone else life, and becoming a criminal himself.


    Can he not explain to someone, that, he himself should not be here? That he was not a criminal or a hunter? But, explain that to whom? Do you see any guard around here? Any cameras? No, Arlom was the only person that was in front of him, and he didn¡¯t looked like a guard but¡­ someone trying to leave this place.


    Surrounding Cyan, there only trees and leafs, his best hope was to find an exit gate and try to leave, it was best to not think about anything else.


    As for Arlom, he has forgotten to tell Cyan some important things, first, this prison was not human made, and that, that ¡®stupid¡¯ rule, was not put by a human¡¯s king¡¯s or Queen¡¯s, they are just using this place as a tool to forge the strongest soldier¡¯s in the continent, soldier¡¯s that would fight for them.


    This was all that this place was for them, a huge training ground, a hell for the weak, and a paradise for the strong that seek to become even stronger or die.


    And the other thing he had forgotten to tell to Cyan was that, at the gates there were indeed guarded by something, they stopped anyone for leaving if they don¡¯t had the required points to leave this forest, but they don¡¯t stop anyone for entering it, no, even more, when someone enters it, they are given a token that marked the required points they need to gather before leaving.


    And those guards, they were not human, they were more sinister than that, Arlom was not even sure if they were living beings, how can you call something that can¡¯t die a living being?


    They were something that even if all the hunters gather in one place, and try to fight them, they will lost a hundred times of a hundred.


    Arlom shook his head, discarding those thoughts of his mind, Cyan will understand this¡­ eventually, but there was something else in Arlom mind that he could not be easily discarded even if he wanted, turning his head around, he took a peek at Cyan condition.


    This time with Cyan was following close behind him, maybe because he was happy to be talking to someone, but this time Arlom was running a little slower than before, allowing Cyan to keep up with him for more time.


    Or maybe it was because the green liquid that Arlom has gave him, but Cyan could now run for 2 hours straight before being cover in sweat and had to stop again to take a rest.


    Cyan was once again impressed by the effect of the potions of Arlom had.


    Arlom again mounted guard around Cyan, allowing him to regain his breath, and giving him another bottle of the green liquid,


    Cyan drink it like it was water this time, he was very thirsty after so much running so he was carving for water, as for Arlom not a drop of sweat can be seen over his face.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Are we close?¡±


    Arlom shook his head


    [Arlom]: ¡°No, and with this pace¡­ sigh, it will take an entirely week to get there¡±


    Cyan face instantly paled, was that far? Didn¡¯t you say it was less than a day way, after running for more than 2 hours now you say it will take a week? Are you joking with me? Are you enjoying my suffering?, Cyan wanted to get angry at Arlom but then again, he was just following Arlom, how can he question the man himself.


    [Arlom]: ¡°There is no other choice, if we want to get there soon I will have to carry you¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Wait Arlom, are you not hurt? Your left is missing, don¡¯t force yourself to much¡±


    Arlom shook his head, ¡®this is truly¡­ stupid¡¯, Caring? Tenderhearted? Worry about him? What all of those are, if not, the meaning of stupid in Arlom dictionary.


    [Unknown]: ¡°That¡¯s right Arlom you are so hurt, let me help you a little with your burden¡±


    ¡®Finally, I thought I would to have drag this more time¡¯.


    [Arlom]: ¡°sigh, so you finally show yourself, I was worry that you would be pestering me all the day¡±


    [Unknown]: ¡°kukukuku the great Hunter King Arlom, missing an arm and carrying around a weakling around, if the other hunters knew about this they would die of laughter¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cut the crap, if you wanted to attack you would had already, what do you want¡±


    [Unknown]: ¡°Don¡¯t be in such a hurry, I was so bored that I just wanted to check what happen to the Hunter Queen candidate, but, seeing you are alive, then it means she had failed in her hunt, is this, the fourteen already? kukukuku, so much fun, until now no hunter king has scape from the Queen Hunt, but you are giving me hope Arlom, to see something never seen before, who knows, maybe, you will be first to do it¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Shut it, candidate huh, you all are just monsters, and I don¡¯t want to hear about exiting this place from you, a monster, even if you are a king, that not changes the fact that you are still a monster, and no monster has exited this place since ever, also don¡¯t call me Hunter King I am Arlom, that¡¯s my name, you dam monsters keep putting labels on me¡±


    [Unknown(Monster King)]: ¡°Kukukuku, we don¡¯t leave this place because the world outside is so boring, nothing compare with the endless fight in here, if we wanted, we could take out the guards but why would we take the guards that keep so many fun things inside this place, and so full of histories, so rich,


    ¡®Don¡¯t bullshit me, nobody can take those things out and you know it, what are you playing?¡¯, turning around he could see the stunned stupid face of Cyan that was saying something like ¡°Guards¡±, letting a sigh, Arlom could now understand what is this all about.


    [Unknown(Monster King)]: ¡°Oh that¡¯s right, I hear that a war with the demons is coming soon, maybe, the new recruits will be arriving soon, you better watch out your back, oh great Hunter king, I will be rotting for you, please don¡¯t die too soon, we are ¡®friends¡¯ after all, and friends help each other out¡±


    Now bear in mind, a friendship with a monster it can only mean that they will be fighting each other to death someday, but until that day, they will try to keep the other one alive, if was more of one way relationship, in this hellish place, you need to find something keep your mind busy, and a good ¡®friend¡¯ is hard to find, and it needs to be enjoyed, to the fullest of their life¡¯s.


    [Unknown (Monster King)]: ¡°I know!, as a present for wining your fourteen fight against the Hunter Queens candidates, I will clear of the way for you, you are so hurt after that fight, that it hurts my heart to watch you in such conditions, I can¡¯t bear with it, I promise you in my name of monster king, that, no one will able to comer after you for a weak, what you think? I am not a good friend?¡±


    Now the Monster King was putting the biggest smile he could find, this was truly a bliss for him, helping out a friend in need, it was such glorious moment for him, he was doing this for the kindness of his hearth, even if doing this was a little hard, he was doing it nonetheless, it was for his good friend, after all, he was sure that when the moment arrived, when he was in need of his help, Arlom would come to help him too, no matter what.


    Such a wonderful thing was a friendship, and it was really hard to find a friend that you could depend on, and even more, one that was so long lasting.


    Most of his friends would ¡®leave¡¯ the forest or became monsters themselves, and then search friends of their own, and after that, they would not had a lot time to spent with him, ending his friendship with him, he will forgive them all, they were all of his friends after all, it was all saddening but such is life.


    The monster king pull out his hand requesting for a hand shake of his good friend, Arlom only could shake his head, not giving him a hand shake, the monster was already used to this so he could only shrug his shoulders, this friend of his was always like this, a cold hearted person.


    [Unknown (Monster King)]: ¡°well I said my piece I will be leaving now, Ah that¡¯s right, before I forget, you boy, what is your name¡±


    That¡¯s right there was something else to be happy about, the possibility of making a new friend today, if his boy has took the attention of his cold heart friend then of course he will also take interest in him.


    Cyan was trebling in a corner, another weird guy has appeared and was talking, and this time he could understand everything from the beginning to end, but there was too much he didn¡¯t understood actually, he could only gather a few pieces of this man conversation with Arlom, but for the most part, it was like hearing the conversation of two strangers on the street.


    Cyan was still stunned because this man had suddenly show up, but still manage to response to the question directed at him.


    The man was a lot younger and smaller than Arlom, actually Arlom was a 2 meter giant with the body of those that could lift hundreds of kilograms with one hand, while the other man was 30 cm shorter, his hair was black as well as his eyes, and his body was thin, and should being a 30 years old person, but after looking at his eyes, he didn¡¯t look any weaker than Arlom, no, because his appearance was less imposing, he should be stronger than Arlom.


    How should respond to such a questions? Looking over Arlom he had his eyes closed and was not giving him any signs what so ever, so Cyan only could reply the best way he could, with the true.


    [Cyan]: ¡°My name it is Cyan, sir, what is yours?¡±


    Arlom could only face palm himself, ¡®this stupid kid is truly seeking death, to no only give his name so easily but to ask the name of the monster king back¡¯, if Arlom could laugh, he would be laughing to death right now, because he the one that has saved such stupid kid, but what is done is done.


    [Unknown (Monster King)]: ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHA, I get it I get you are new, Cyan I will remember it, so that¡¯s was the reason my good friend has took you under his wings¡±.


    The monster king nodded his head, he was surprise by the boys reply and now he understand the why, but then what about the how?


    How will exactly Arlom make this unless weak kid into something that can fend for himself?


    Coming all the way until here was the worth it, his sense of smell has always guided him into fun places, it has never before being more accurate than now, he was sure of it now.


    A new friend into the making, will there be a new friend being born right before his eyes? It was miraculous.


    He can only leave this kind of job to his good old friend Arlom, after all he is always doing miracles in front of him.


    ¡®I can¡¯t wait to see it happen, maybe it will be sooner than later?¡¯ The monster king will remember this, as a happy day, the day he meet with Cyan, as for Cyan, he will curse this moment in the days to come.


    The monster king nodded his head once again after coming to a decision.


    [Unknown (Monster King)]: ¡°Arlom take a good care of Cyan I can only leave this job to you, I am counting with you, and Cyan I am sorry, but I will tell you my name later and that¡¯s a promise, you only had to promise to stay alive to hear it, can you promise that?¡±


    Can he promise that? He was not a daredevil seeking for death, but the man smile, something was definably wrong with it, and now that he thought about it, the man eyes were not of someone that was smiling, no, a friend, promises, trust, and friendship, different from Arlom eyes, this man eyes were empty, all of those were missing, it was sickening to Cyan and the first time he could see such eyes.


    Even Serah eyes that were a little cold, they show a little warm to them, they still had feelings inside them, but this man, didn¡¯t have anything of that, black, darkness, Cyan was feeling that he was being suck into the void of nothingness, he could not reply to the monster king question, no, he could not even talk or even breath, he was suffocating.


    The monster king shook his head, it was too early for presentations and promises after all Cyan was too green, taking one last glance to Cyan he turned around and took his leave not before leaving behind some last words.


    [Unknown (Monster King)]: ¡°I will hear your history in the future Cyan, so you better keep me entertain until then, so don''t die and disappoint me, Arlom I had change my mind, I will clear the way for you like I promise, but, I will make it 1 month, it seems you will be having a hard time it not, kukukuku, I having a lot of fun, Ah! That¡¯s why I never want to leave this place you never know what will be happen kukukuku then until next time Cyan, Arlom¡±


    Even if was a little saddening for him that Cyan could not hold a staring contest with him for a long time without being suffocated, the monster king still recovered for his sad mood very fast, like he always say, life must go on, he can only wait and see to the end results his friend will produce.


    Unknown to Cyan, he has just received a death threat from no other that the monster king himself, to be marked by the monster king the same day that he arrived here, if Cyan were to be hit by a lighting, twice, at the same time, you could only think of it as an improvement in his luck.


    After his words hit, the weird guy never spoke again, his presence was never felt by Cyan in the first place, if not for Arlom being here, he would had probably being toyed a little more.


    [Arlom]: ¡°No good, Cyan we need to move fast, get on my back, we don¡¯t know what those crazy monster will do next¡±


    Cyan didn¡¯t put any buts anymore got on the back of Arlom, even if Arlom only has one arm left it was still enough to hold him.


    Arlom with Cyan at his back, tightly gripped, started running a top speed, Cyan could see blurred lines and was getting very dizzy, he would had puke long time ago if not that he have an empty stomach.


    Maybe it was because the monster king keep his promise but they didn¡¯t find any problem in the way, be monsters or hunters, no one dare to come close to Arlom or tried to block his path, after 12 hours of nonstop running instead of the original he calculated including fighting with other Hunter, Arlom carrying Cyan at his back arrive at his ¡®home¡¯


    It was a cave behind a water fall, the only thing is that, the water fall was not water, but lava and the only way to enter is to go through the lava.


    Cyan was long ago unconscious so he missed the moment when they went through it, it was for the better. He could just not handle any more surprises today after all.


    Leaving behind Cyan in a room, Arlom proceeded to cure his wounds, if the monster king had attacked him he would not be standing in here, that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t try to out run him, to think he would receive his help, ¡®a weak eh, that¡¯s the time you are giving to train Cyan¡¯.


    If he had not dropped his guard when he meet with Cyan, allowing the Hunter Queen, Serah to put so many traps dealing a heavy injuries to him, and then finding the Monster King, it was the worse luck he ever had, or at least the second worse, Arlom has notice that the monster king had let him go, and it was because of Cyan, a hurt friend was not something a monster will care about.


    The Monster King show up acting indifferent to Cyan only talking random things with Arlom but as he was leaving he asked for Cyan name like an extra, Arlom knew that this was the original purpose of the Monster King in the first place.


    For what reason he has taken an interest over Cyan, Arlom has already guessed, it was very close to Arlom own purpose, those crazy monster that only wanted to kill would not act in such way, not blocking his path or attacking him, they would chase him like hyenas after the smell blood.


    Arlom didn¡¯t wanted to admit it in front of Cyan but he was severely wounded after his fight with the Hunter Queen, to be able to protect Cyan and then fight back, but in the end he still chose to take Cyan with him, maybe this has saved his life today? What if the monster had go after him without Cyan? Would he be still alive?


    [Arlom]: ¡°Friends? And not wanting to exit this place because is boring outside? Don¡¯t Joke with me Monster King, the key to truly exiting this place must have something to do with Cyan¡±


    Without knowing it, Cyan has saved the life of Arlom today and he was very grateful for that, his debt of protecting him this morning was already pay back, now they have a week, before the protection of the monster king ends, in that one month he needs to train Cyan into a machine.


    Arlom was planning now how he will actually manage to teach Cyan how to not die in this place.


    He was doing because the monster has given him that task? That wasn¡¯t it, then, it was so Cyan could leave this place eventually? That wasn¡¯t it either, than he was because his soft heart, wrong, it was same reason as the monster king had but different.


    The true was because maybe Cyan was what Arlom was looking for all this year¡¯s inside this forest.


    The real to exit this place, the 7th Gate.

 Chapter 5: The medallion

    Chapter 5: The medallion


    Opening his eyes and jumping out of his bed was Cyan that had just woke up from his weird dream.


    He was dreaming that he got lost in huge maze and no matter how fast he ran or in what direction, he could not find the exit of the maze, even worse, the maze didn¡¯t worked with any logic what so ever, he will walk in one direction only find himself in the same room over and over again, half way through the dream a dark emptiness void started to devour all the maze, Cyan tried to run from the void but in the end he could escape it, he was devoured by it, giving him a jump scared and waking up him, in a dark room.


    [Cyan]: ¡°It was all just a dream, then what about¡­ the forest¡±


    Even if Cyan wanted to pretend that waking up in the forest was a dream, his body did not allow him to.


    After jumping of his bed he was feeling very stiff and all his articulations were in pain, his back was also aching like he has fallen asleep over a rock, turning around he had notice, that he has in fact being sleeping in a bed made of rock, well if you can call a bed a big rock over the floor, even a bed made of dirt would be softer than this, that is to say the floor.


    In other circumstances it would be impossible for him to be sleeping in such circumstances, but being unconscious, Cyan did not have any say in this matter at all, he also awfully tired and that has allowed him to sleep over in this bed.


    But even after sleeping for some unknown amount of time, his body still felt tire and in pain, maybe it was because he was sleeping over a rock that he didn¡¯t get not enough rest? Or maybe this was Arlom way of punishing him for being stupid or he just wanted Cyan to wake up fast, whatever it was, his body feeling the consequences like he had run all day long yesterday.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Why I am sleeping like this¡­. I was being carry on by Arlom and everything went blurry and then I pass out, I don¡¯t remember anything else after that, but it seems we made it in to his home, argh, my back is killing me, and my legs are so stiffs, sigh, whatever there are more important things to do, right now I need to find Arlom¡±


    Looking around, even if was dark it was not total darkness, there was a source of light coming off from somewhere, after finding the source so he started to walk in the direction that the light was coming from while tumbling into the walls at the beginning.


    At the beginning he started to slowly make his way until he could walk more naturally, then he finally arrived at the end of the hall that has opened into a large space, now the walls expanded to form a huge circular room.


    This room was very well illuminated with an orange glow coming for the celling, forming weird glowing lines that illuminated the entire cave giving it an orange color to the walls.


    Also the room temperature of this room was a lot higher than the one he was before, but that was minor thing right now, something else was drawing Cyan focus to the center of the room.


    In the middle of the room Cyan could a seen table and two chairs, and Arlom was sitting in one of those, with his arms crossed and his eyes close, front of him was empty chair that was like inviting Cyan to sit down.


    Cyan could only walk to the table, and after coming closer to Arlom he could now see clearly that Arlom left arm has in fact back, ¡®He did really regrown his arm with a potion, sigh, I glad but at the same time this is too much to take, are you a reptilian? Do you have tail too?¡¯


    He was happy about this, for one side, a weight of his mind was lifted, but on the other side his questions only grew more, ¡®he will definitively call me stupid like a hundred times over if I asked him about it right?¡¯, Sadly for Cyan, he was not wrong about that.


    Not waiting for Cyan to take a sit, Arlom started speaking to him.


    [Arlom]: ¡°So you are finally awake stupid child, it take you long enough, now now you must be very hungry, here eat until your stomach is full first, then we will talk¡±


    Just by the looks of his face, Arlom could guess that Cyan was thinking a lot of stupid things not even 10 minutes after he wake up.


    Arlom could not help it but to shake his head, ¡®this is going to be very difficult¡¯


    With a wave of his hand food appeared over the table, it was something that looked like a big roasted pig, and it looked it was recently cooked, it was giving Cyan a very good smell, and it would surely be delicious to eat it right away.


    Cyan could not helped but to gulp at the food displayed in front of him, and his stomach didn¡ät stood quietly, with a stomach roar, that it was an actual roar, he was giving a warning that he was in fact, very very hungry, and he need to be feed as soon as possible, not doing it, will carry grave consequences for him.


    Cyan could not control his own stomach that has come to life like a new entity, holding his stomach back with both hands, it let out another roar to make clear his superior strength over Cyan and was like saying ¡®feed me you stupid child¡¯.


    Well at the very least that was what Cyan thought of, ¡®now I am even being called stupid by my own stomach, sigh¡¯, but he sound forgot about all this, there is a time and a place, and now it was to talk.


    Sitting down in the chair, he fixed his position into sitting position and still holding his stomach with a tight nod, he looked over Arlom, he need to ask some important things right now ¡®there are more important things to care about right now than food¡¯.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I have seen it three times already, but¡­ are you using magic? Or is some kind of really advance device? Did I slept for a thousand years? And this how the Earth evolved into? nothing is making any sense to me, things appearing from nowhere, arms that regrown, strange liquids that can cure all of your wounds or cure my fatigue, fever and sickness, destroyed trees rid of the base that should be impossible for a person to do, endless explosions, people¡­. killing each other, a strange language that I can understand and speak without even understanding it, it is like is being translate in my mind.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Arlom¡­ please I beg you, tell me what is going on, what is the date, what I got myself into, why I am in this place¡­ how can I go back home?¡±


    Cyan could not help to ask everything he was holding until now, too many strange things had happen in one single day, ¡®where do I begin¡¯ Cyan thought, but at the end he just asked whatever had come to his mind, the only person that he hoped, could answer his questions was in front of him after all.


    Even before Arlom said anything in response to those questions, proclaiming his victory over the brain, Cyan started devouring the food in front of him, he could not hold it any longer, the tasty food was too tempting and he guessed that this conversation would take a while, he could hear what Arlom has to say while he eats his fill right?.


    On the other hand, Arlom only watch him eat without saying word, he was planning to answer the questions that Cyan could had but he changed his mind and left him eat in peace, the questions that Cyan had asked where worse of what Arlom was expecting.


    He was now reordering his responses, ¡®Earth? Magic? To not even know about potions, sigh, this is going more difficult than I initially thought¡¯ leaving a mental sigh that did not show up in Arlom face at all, he waited until Cyan finished his food, even if Cyan wanted to hear the answers while he was eating, a man eating his food should not disturbed by any reasons.


    10 minutes later Cyan had eaten all the food in the table like if a mini black hole had taken over his stomach, now, a whole pig was in his stomach, which was unexpected for Cyan, and a new question was to be added to his list, why was the stomach not bulging at all, ¡®where all the food go?¡¯, he just sigh again, this was maybe the hundred time he had sigh in two days making he just sigh again.


    Noticing that stupid look in Cyan face again, Arlom also did a mental sigh, ¡®this is going to be very very hard¡¯.


    As for Arlom that mini black hole in Cyan stomach was the after effects of the green potion he has given him, it was a simple potion that helped people to regain their lost stamina by forcefully consuming their reserves, and had giving him two potion, he had made so much food especially because of this.


    The after effect of the potion were that, they would be attack by a severe hunger and if they don¡¯t eat anything soon they will surly die, well that was the cost of forcefully using the body reserves, now why Arlom has given such a potential dangerous potion to Cyan?, well it was because it was the only he could give him at that moment, and if something were to show up he could not have Cyan lying in the floor and also.


    As Arlom concerned it, he has already started training Cyan body from day one, he needs to put his body to the limit every day, the monster kind has given then only 1 month window to Cyan to be acclimatized to this forest, so that reserve that the body naturally does on his own, needs to disappear, there is not place in his training for that, the ¡®I will do my 100%¡¯ would literally mean 100% to Arlom and no less.


    If Arlom knew a way to make it 200% without permanently damaging the body, he would do just that.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I am full now, I never knew I could eat so much, thank you very much for the food¡±


    Arlom nodded his head


    [Arlom]: ¡°Don¡¯t mentioned, you can thank later after I answer some of your questions, but first what do you remember before we meet"


    Cyan tried to remember and started the recollections the last thing he remember before showing up in this place.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I actually don¡¯t remember that much, I had woken up in the morning and I was feeling very sick, so Mon told me to stay in bed get some rest, after drinking some medicine that Mon has brought for me, i went to sleep and that¡¯s all I remember¡±


    Arlom nodded his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°As I had guessed, in resume you don¡¯t remember how do you got in here, and you didn¡¯t come here by yourself, that can only mean that someone else has brought you here using some kind of method, as far i can think of, I think that you entered using a gate, but, not one of the six known gates, you entered using the seventh gate to be more specify, and I also believe that the monster king thinks the same as me¡±


    Cyan could not help but to interrupt Arlom explication


    [Cyan]: ¡°The seventh gate? Is there really another way to leave this forest?¡±


    His eyes were like starts now, as far has Arlom has told him, there were only six gates, and if he wanted to leave this forest he would need to gather enough points, but¡­If Arlom was mentioning another gate maybe this was not like the others?


    Now, this beg the question, why Cyan would be believing in what Arlom said so easily, when he himself had never seen no one of the six gates using his own eyes.


    Well to explain that Cyan would had to explain himself as a whole, how do you explain sight to a blind man or music to a deft person, he didn¡¯t know how, but, Cyan could see the true reflected in Arlom eyes.


    And that¡¯s was not the only thing reflected there, there sadness, anger, suffering, but there was also the memory of happiness and lastly there was hope.


    This was also the reason why the Monster King eyes were so scary to him, there was nothing reflecting in them, but only a completely emptiness, a void, sucking all the light of his surroundings, just remembering those eyes would make Cyan start shaking and feel like he didn¡¯t have any air in his lungs.


    No, Arlom was not lying, he could see it as clear as day, of course this was just his feeling, his mother would tell him from time to time that trusting people blindly was not a good thing to do, of course his mother didn¡¯t wanted for him to never trust in other people, but to do it blindly was not good either, to that, Cyan could only feel a little sad that his mother could not see as well as he did.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I will tell you all I know about the 7<sup>th</sup> gate, but first, let me finish. Now, as to why you can translated the language, that¡¯s because the power of a Name, that someone has given you, you can be thankfully to Serah about that, she was the one that has given you her name so willingly¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°So it was because of her, her eyes¡­ sigh¡­ did you really have to kill her? There was no other way?¡±


    Lowering his head over the table Cyan could not help but to be between the sword and a hard place.


    Arlom shook his head, preventing useless death? ¡®Cyan you are still too soft¡¯


    Cyan already knew the answer to that question, but he could not bring himself to think that way, ¡®her eyes were still those of a human being would posses¡¯, Cyan mutter softly so Arlom could not hear him, Cyan could not bring himself to say that to the man in front of him, saying that was the same as slapping the face of the person that has just save you.


    If Arlom had not did what he did, maybe both of them would be death, how can he judged the man that has saved him and was still protecting him, and even feeding him? Should he allow himself to be killed? Or starved to death? Not taking the life of someone will meant that, that person will come to hunt you again tomorrow, and maybe the next time you will not be able to beat him, wishing upon a start for a perfect world would not work, he was weak, but not stupid, he knew the answer, how could he not accept it.


    In a multiple question test, if none of the answer was your own answer then what? Are you in the wrong? And everyone else that answer using one of those options is in the right? Cyan was not sure, but at least he was sure of one thing, he will not put his head in a silver platter to take, he would not allow other people steal his food and he will just starved to death, even if not a complete answer, it was Cyan own answer and nothing else, and that was enough to him for now.


    Arlom had only given Cyan a few minutes to be immersed in his own thoughts before continuing talking, this was something that Cyan needs to get the answers from within himself, Arlom did not have all the answers after all he was no god.


    Cyan raised his head with a resolute look in his eyes, Arlom could only nod to this, he could feel calmer about it, and at least Cyan was resolute to not being a carpet for other people to step on.


    [Arlom]: ¡°As for you to be able understand me now, I can guess you were very desperately trying to understand what going on, but, for you to display that power, your intentions needs to be aligned with the name and history of the other person itself, it is hard to believe that you didn¡¯t knew her until yesterday, for you to utilized her name so easily you would have to be very familiar with that person you know, sigh¡±


    Cyan shook his head


    [Cyan]: ¡°Please, don¡¯t said it as I am just utilizing her¡­ she only lend me her name, I will give her name back when I am able to¡±


    Arlom could only shake his head to this¡­ kid, but he could not help to smile a little to Cyan, but only inside his mind.


    [Arlom]: ¡°The best thing you can do is carry her name with you, and honor it, and never forget about it, I can only assume you must had some kind of connection with her, but to be able to understand her so easily, for how long did you talked to her to form such a connection?, as I thought you are not normal¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°We didn¡¯t actually talk, she was saying things I didn¡¯t understood and¡­ I just looked over to her eyes and that was it¡±


    Cyan didn¡¯t know how to answer that, how you would answer when someone call you abnormal? ¡®I am not the normal here? Everyone else is¡­ the strange one¡¯, that¡¯s exactly what an abnormal person would say, and that¡¯s why he couldn¡¯t said it, even if was right he was not right.


    Even if Arlom face was not showing it, inside Arlom mind he was having his own doubts about Cyan ¡®how powerful can your eyes be, to form a connection with her in such short amount of time and with just one look¡¯


    Arlom was already having suspicions of Cyan, how many kids of 15 years old do you know that can be so trusting? Not one, Cyan was not normal, how can a normal human enter this forest and reach the middle of it being as weak as him, this fact was abnormal in itself, but his eyes were the most abnormal thing of all.


    ¡®I had seen those kind eyes before... but that¡¯s¡­¡¯


    Arlom could only halt is thoughts at this point, it was impossible after all, there was not need to think about it, recovering before an expression could be show up in his face, he carry on with his initial talk like nothing.


    [Arlom]: ¡°As for all your other questions I don¡¯t have the time to answer the questions that you will learn the answers eventually by your own soon enough¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Cyan was a little disappointed, ¡®is this a novel for you to let me with such cliff hanger?¡¯ he wanted to retort back at him, but that would not make Arlom change his mind about his previous answer, away and he would surely be called stupid.


    Never the less, Cyan wanted to know something very import right now.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Can you just tell me a little more about the Seventh Gate, didn¡¯t you say that there were only six gates? How come I enter using the seventh? It really was not possible for me to be sleeping for a thousand years in the middle of the forest or something, and something like the a name being used as power, how is that I have a connection with Serah even if we never had meet before?, sigh¡±. Another sigh left Cyan mouth hoping to get at least some answers.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Don¡¯t become stupid again child, sleeping for one thousand years? This forest that has existed for centuries and it is full of expert¡¯s hunters and monsters, they would not miss such an easy prey just sleeping in the middle of it, there is no doubt something has brought you in here recently with a purpose and put you in the open so that you would be easily found¡±


    He was called stupid again sigh, but at least Arlom hypothesis was sound and had not even ended yet.


    [Arlom]: ¡°As to why I think you have a connection with Serah well if I am correct in this you will find out soon enough, I don¡¯t know why there is such a connection between you two, but she is death now and there is nothing that can be done about that, but when you are prepared for it, i will tell you her history, it is not a pretty history, and as you are now, hearing it will only hurt your future development, remember Cyan, histories are not just old tales that old people say and names are not just one way to call a person, both of them have a meaning, never forget about that, you got that¡±


    Cyan mind could only retort to himself ¡®more cliff hangers you are the worse¡¯¡­ but he still got the message that Arlom was trying to teach him.


    [Cyan]: ¡°i¡­ understand, I will never forget it about it¡±


    Arlom nodded his head, even if Cyan have some stupid thoughts reflected in his face on the middle of explication, he at least can understand when he was trying to teach him something, but something was bugging his mind now, and Arlom could not help but to ask about it, ¡®this kid is abnormal and stupid, sigh¡¯.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Now, before we continue, let me ask you something important, for you to be so relaxed and for you be eaten with a smile in your face and without a care in your surroundings, fully trusting the food I put over the table, and not even checking it for to be poisoned


    Cyan face grew pale now, where was the happy Arlom from before? Even if Arlom never show other expressions in his face, Cyan was already adapting into reading Arlom mood, but now that ¡®happy-serious¡¯ Arlom was replace with a ¡®angry-serious¡¯ Arlom.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan, did you for any chance, thought that I would not hurt you? Or that this a hidden secret base? In a forest full of Hunters? Were the thing the most enjoy is finding and hunting preys? Or it was safe against Monsters? Monster like that Monster King that would follow any smell of blood thinking that, that trace would leap them to find a fun place where to kill their infinite boredom? How much more stupid can you get? Forget about the your name I will name you Stupid from now¡±


    Cyan I mean Stupid, ghastly pale now, poison in the food? And this is not a hidden secret and safe place? But what really got into his never was¡­ that he was given a new name out of the blue.


    [Cyan(Stupid)] ¡°You¡­. You are the stupid one, your sister is stupid your whole family is stupid¡±


    Stupid could hold it inside him anymore, no, that outburst of anger was putting him in the process of looking more stupid at the eyes of Arlom, but this was it, Stupid could not take any more, he had stopped thinking, funny enough Stupid has forgotten all his pain or questions that were left unanswered, like a Stupid would do.


    ¡®This¡­.i¡­..so angry¡­arhg¡¯ Stupid insides were spinning, he could not hold his emotions inside him.


    [Arlom] ¡°Listen well if you can Stupid, in this forest nothing can be hidden and there is no free lunch, eventually you will have to fight, flee, or die, for something, and if you keep screening like that they would find us faster than think, so you better shut your mouth up and listen well what I have to tell you¡±


    Arlom has passed not from ¡®angry-serious¡¯ to a new king of face that Cyan has not seen before, ¡®angry-angry¡¯, even if, it was still the same expression than before that is, still being Stupid, he could still read it.


    Cyan has realized now, that this was not the moment to get angry or to become Stupid, so he went mute, trying to suppressing his boiling emotions of rage, and other emotions.


    [Cyan(Stupid)] ¡°I will show you¡­. I will show you that I am not Stupid¡±


    Cyan was clenching his fingers into a fist, if he wanted, he would throw this fist to Arlom stupid unchanging face for insulting him, but he knew now that thinking this way was wrong, no, it why he was being called stupid over and over again in the first place, making him even more angry for realizing his own stupid thoughts.


    Cyan declaration and clear intentions of wanting to hit him but only holding his fist back make Arlom have some hope for the future.


    [Arlom]: ¡°At least you stopped getting more Stupid now, sigh, it will be a miracle if we can improve that brain of yours, but that¡¯s a relive, if you had gotten more Stupider your brain would had jump out of your skull and beat you to death with a stick, unwilling to be carry by such stupid person¡±


    Cyan was Fuming now ¡®Arrrrrggggggggg why I am being call stupid, stupid stupid you are the stupid, being called stupid by such a stupid person you¡­ that is it I must hit you even just once¡¯.


    Stupid was being force to his limits, he was getting ready to hit Arlom in the face but he suddenly stop, a new thought has pop up in that stupid brain of his ¡®is like he is delivering provoking me, he want to be hit? No, that¡¯s stupid why he would want that, unless that¡¯s what he wants? But why he want me to hit him, wait, can I even really hit at this wall of muscles? I had become angry but I can¡¯t hit him at all right? Unless he wants me to¡­.you¡­¡¯.


    Cyan realize by now that this was beyond the range of joking or teasing him, Arlom was intentionally provoking him to get him angry and angrier, so that Cyan would try to attack him, he was being provoke to act like a stupid would a DAHHHHH moment hit Cyan mind, letting another sigh, ¡®What number of sigh if this one, sigh¡¯


    Cyan regained his composure dissolving his fist and his anger, doing this was already a miracle, most people would lost their temper, and hot blooded kid would fly into rage if you keep calling him stupid over and over again, such was youth.


    Cyan could now only think that this must be some kind of mind training?, ¡®maybe Arlom has started training me from the start for me to not die in this forest?, if is like that then, I had lost my calm, I need to keep my emotions down, like Arlom, to never show them in my face, I need to think¡¯.


    Now that Cyan has calmed down, a moment of clarity has come to his mind after being pressured so much by Arlom.


    He could remember that dark eyes guys words, ¡®A war is coming, and 1 month, that¡¯s right, he promised to keep other monsters and hunters at bay by one month, for this one month Arlom needs to train me, and Arlom has already begun my training without me knowing it¡¯


    This was it, Arlom was already training him into a machine by Arlom own words¡­but¡­


    ¡®there is something else, he took me before we had meet with the monster king, he was already planning to training me from the beginning, even if he was hurt, he could easily carry me to this base from the get go, why he didn¡¯t, no, instead he made me run like crazy, then he had given me those of those green potions¡­ what all of this means¡¯


    Cyan could now raise his head that was fixed looking over his fist just before, and it was now fixed in eyes of the man that was in front of him.


    He could see that Arlom was still sit in his chair and had not move an inch, and had the same exact expression as before, looking back at Cyan.


    In his previous outburst of anger, Cyan had stood up from his chair without him noticing it, losing total control over his body, but Arlom as not move at all, like this was expected from the beginning.


    In the eyes of Cyan was a question that he could voice out, ¡®Then what I am to you? I am just a stupid kid for you?¡¯


    But Arlom could not bother to answer that question, his silence was like a reply by itself, ¡®think about it for yourself kid¡¯ and he take away his eyes of Cyan crossing his arms and closed his eyes.


    This was Arlom giving his time to think, Cyan could only lower his head again to ponder about it.


    ¡®After I had said my name your attitude over me had changed, you were so shocked, but, then after you had come back from your fight it had changed again, guess you had already realized that I am not your son, then, you said it was because I have the same name as him, but you didn¡¯t knew about this at the beginning, and you still took the risk of coming closer to where I was, and there is also, of wanting to leave this place, and me coming for the seventh gate, then it is not just the name, no, it is my origins that are important to you¡­¡¯


    ¡®But then what about the monster king? And the 1 month of training¡¯


    ¡®The monster king talked about he could defeat the guards at the gates, I couldn¡¯t read his eyes at all, but Arlom face was like saying that he was lying by the skin of his teeth¡¯


    Arlom was very proud of his unchanging face that didn¡¯t give away his emotions to his opponents, but when the monster king himself, comes and start telling lies to a kid, even the master of one thousands faces would not able to hide their eyes rolling around to such black and white lies.


    Even so Cyan could not stop pondering some more.


    ¡®but, he was not lying about not wanting to leave this place, this place is like a paradise to him, then, this is also related to the seventh gate, to my origins, let¡¯s say, if for whatever reasons, Arlom can¡¯t use one of the six gates and he needs find another exit, if then, there is a unguarded exit from where everyone can leave as the please, wouldn¡¯t that ruined the Monster King paradise? Arlom said himself, in this place there is no were to run, no were to hide, then the only answer is!¡¯


    Putting all of this together Cyan could only reach to one conclusion.


    ¡®The seventh gate, I must be the proof that it exist, or I am related to key for finding it, Arlom is using me to escape this place and the monster king want to stop us, but why¡­ didn¡¯t¡¯.


    Cyan has seen it, in his way over the base, there were a lot of body¡¯s it was not just Sera that has die that day, this forest is dangerous Cyan thought, the that has killed those people was the monster king that has clear a path for them, so if he was trying to stop them for leaving they why he helped them?


    Arlom took notice Cyan was thinking of something, through his face and nodded his head, ¡®sigh he is not that Stupid after all¡¯.


    Before Cyan could ask is his answers were correct with perfect timing Arlom interrupted him thinking to start his explication about the seventh gate, there was not need to discuss Cyan answers, in the future they would be proven to be true or false, either way he only need to move in one direction, into becoming strong so nobody would lead you by the nose.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Good, you better don¡¯t disappoint me kid, your brain is your best weapon, if you don¡¯t trained every day you will die, if you are easily provoke you will act like a stupid and die, if you stop thinking for a second you will die, also just for you knowledge, I did not put poison in your food this time, but I will next time you don¡¯t check for it, it will still not kill you, but the pain you would feel, well it will not be very far from it.¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Now carrying with the other part, where I was? Ah that¡¯s right there are only six known gates, but I think there were originally seven gates, now, why I think you enter that way is that¡¯s is because you don¡¯t have this¡±


    Arlom lifted his hand showing what it was holding to Cyan, it was black medallion the size of a big coin, and in the middle were big red numbers like they were written with blood.


    [Arlom]: ¡°This medallion is given to everyone when they enter here, is linked to your soul, and nobody else would take yours, even the purest of souls would get a count of 1000 point to get, the monsters have some rules they follow when they kill each other, they will not waste time in taking your medallion leaving you alive, when I found you, you didn¡¯t have any medallion on you, and I think I was the first to had found you, otherwise you would be already dead¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°You appeared deep into the forest in the middle of a clearing that was not there the day before, in a bed that don¡¯t exist in this place, without a medallion and nobody else noticing that you had arrived, if I had not being close by I would also not notice you.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Your very existence is the proof that the seventh gate really exist somewhere, and I plan to use that gate to escape this forest, also Cyan your name, even if it was just the name, you carry my son name, so if you are not an enemy I will not kill you, I will train you and use you to escape this place, don¡¯t you think for a second that I am gentle man or I don¡¯t have the heart to kill you, I had keep you because, maybe you are the last piece of the puzzle that I was looking for, but the bad news is that I think the monster king also has took notice of the peculiarity that is your existence and that¡¯s why he took interest in you¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°You mean that scary guy from before right? But first will you stop calling me stupid? And also about your son¡­ is he in here?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°It will be stupid from my part to call you stupid all the time, anyway, Cyan, my son is not in here, and I don¡¯t know where he is but, i plan to search for him after leaving this place, about the monster king is better for you to not know much about him for now, asking for his name was dumb move, don¡¯t ask for someone name inside here if you are not playing to fight him to the death you hear?, now, your training had already officially started, you cannot refuse this, have in mind I only save you to use you escape this place¡±


    Cyan face was pale, he was so close to being killed so many times in just a single day that you didn¡¯t know where his bad luck ends and where his good luck start, but at the end all he cared was that he was still alive, and he need to carry on living, but there were so much things he did not know, he could only give one step to start moving forward, ¡®not refusing? You are the only thing I have to hold onto, I will not allow for you to refuse me¡¯.


    Even so most of the answers he had think of were true, he was a little glad he has come to the right conclusion.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Arlom¡­ no, Master, please allow me to be train by you, I don¡¯t know how I got here, I don¡¯t know what is happening, but I want to escape this forest too, please let me help you escape this place and let me follow behind you¡±.


    Cyan has now realize that there was no free lunch in this world, Arlom has saved him, protected him and feed him, but, all this was only so he could escape this place, Cyan only option was to follow Arlom, Cyan was pretty sure he could not run away from Arlom anyway.


    But what it really made Cyan to be willingly into following Arlom training was another thing altogether, the reason it was simple, when they meet for the first time Cyan has seen it, Arlom gentle smile and gentle eyes that were like crying a river full of sadness while he was narrating some unknown tale for him.


    He could not understand at the moment what he was saying but now he thought that he understood, they looked like crying not for Arlom but for Cyan, sadness for Cyan to be in such a place, he has seen those eyes today too, sadness reflected on them when they looked at him, Cyan was sure that Arlom was thinking that killing him would be a mercy kill for sure, in those eyes he almost could see only despair.


    But from the moment he said his name he also could see a minuscule trace of hope that also has appeared. That was the hope to find his own son, but now a new hope has bud, a new hope that was mixing with his other hopes, the hope of escaping this place, finding his son and in the process helping Cyan to escape his fate of dying in here.


    What other fate could Cyan have after being thrown into this forest, Arlom has lied to him ¡®Me finding you was not the plan of someone Cyan, you were thrown in deepest part of this forest where the most powerfully beings existed to die, there is no doubt about it, you should be dead, I can only help you so much for you to escape this horrible fate Cyan, the rest is up to you¡¯.


    After all Arlom doesn¡¯t know where the gate is or how it operates, he cannot promise Cyan that he will also escape after all.


    But Arlom unspoken words and mix of feelings didn¡¯t escaped Cyan gaze.


    ¡®A person with so much sadness and despair has not given up, such person will train me to survive this place, sigh, I am sorry Arlom but I can only depend on you for now, I can only promise I will do my best¡¯


    Arlom nodded his head, he also understood Cyan gaze.


    With his confides restore Cyan would not help but to ask something that was in his mind, he couldn¡¯t see if there not mountains on the surroundings, but even so, planes should exist right?.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Ar, I mean Master, can we just fly out of this forest?¡±


    Arlom could only shook his head to this kid question


    [Arlom]: ¡°There is mana shield surrounding the whole area, and there is not gat in the shield, being in the air or underground, there only way to exit is using the gates.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Mana shield as THAT mana?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°What other mana there is?¡±


    Cyan could feel his insides twisting, ¡®I am totally in a fantasy novel, sigh, then that means!¡¯, now the eyes of Cyan were shining, if there was mana then!


    [Cyan]: ¡°status!¡±


    Cyan has said the legendary words, but¡­. Nothing happened, other that Arlom looking him with his unchanging face of ¡®he-is-a-stupid-kid-after-all-serious¡¯


    But never the less Cyan didn¡¯t give up.


    [Cyan]: ¡°status, options, inventory, window, show, Cyan, points, system, skills, panel¡±


    Still nothing happen.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Are you finish?¡± Arlom could only shake his head to this stupid kid actions, at least he could laugh at them, which was a first for Arlom, to be thinking at laughing to something, of course even if his expression didn¡¯t show it.


    Cyan could now only give up, and deal with reality, but there was still proven that mana exist, he could be able to use on a later time, Arlom said he would be trained by him, he can¡¯t wait for the time he can use magic himself, like Arlom was doing at the beginning, even if he was in a bad situation, a man¡¯s dream was to able be to cast magic from his hands right?


    [Arlom]: ¡°Good, first take this, this is Serah medallion¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Ar, I mean Master you don¡¯t need it?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°It has being a long time since I stopped using these medallions to decrease my points, now I am just throwing them away, but we can¡¯t have you running around without one, that¡¯s one of the reasons of why the monster king has put his eye on you, everyone in here protects theirs¡¯s like their life¡¯s because without one you cannot escape this place, and even if the monsters would never use it, their medallion is their pride and joy, they would never lost it, and the hunters need it to leave this place¡±


    Arlom could only shook his head to this saddening true.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Also you cannot take the medallion of another person and make it look like yours, they will notice at the gates, they are bound to a single person, and if you are not that person it will glow red at the gates, if is yours it would glow white¡±


    Arlom give it the medallion to Cyan for him to use as his, at the gates they will notice that it was not his, but if he stays away from the gates, nobody will notice it.


    Cyan after holding the medallion for 1 minute and while he was appraising it, the medallion started to glow in a white light, and after 10 seconds of glowing, it returned back to normal black appearance.


    But, this time the red numbers have being changed, before it was 0000000000001, then like an old clock, it scrolled the 1 down to 0, putting the counter 0000000000000 but it didn¡¯t stopped there, it moved again, this time scrolling down all the numbers to horrible 9999999999999, this time it stopped for good and did not move any more.


    Arlom jaw dropped as Cyan, what happen to the legendary expressionless face of Arlom? Well that was gone for moment.


    As for Cyan, ¡®it was supposed to be like this? What happened to the purest of souls getting only 1000?¡¯, ¡®I got some magazines under my bed but this is too much right? Is this a joke? What happen to me being an especial case and getting only 0¡¯s like a hero in a novel so I can exit this place¡¯


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cough cough, It seems that because you didn¡¯t have any prior medallion this one has be bounded to you, but to get 10 billion points count, Cyan, work hard¡±


    Arlom put his hand in Cyan shoulder trying to encourage him, but he was almost giving up in him, it looked like his internal thoughts has being read, God was just mocking him now, the endless sighs in Arlom minds where only match by Cyan now.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Wait master how the scores are set? How much was your initial score?, Master Master!, Master don¡¯t stand like that¡±


    Arlom remained in silent unwilling to answerer Cyan questions.


    It actually doesn¡¯t matter, they were planning to use the seventh gate to escape anyway right, so Cyan could forget about trying to use one of the six gate, it would be almost impossible any other way.


    But there was something that Arlom, missed to tell Cyan, it was that, the medallions also has another function, the number doesn¡¯t only mark the number of heads remaining but how much a medallion was worth.


    For example, Serah medallion worth was 1 point, when they hit 0 they don¡¯t go any lower than that, and if you didn¡¯t exit the forest after 1 month after you marker hits cero, then you are consider a monster and you medallion would display ------------- instead of 0¡¯s.


    When a monster dies their medallion worth is always 1 point, the most head¡¯s you hunt the lest you are worth to be hunted, is was a system that prey on the weak, and leaves the monster to roam free, in actually, Cyan medallion could get a free ticked out of the forest to anyone.


    Getting 1000 points was kind of lucky for someone


    Nobody knew how the initial score was calculated, but it has something to do to their crimes or theirs souls, nobody was truly pure, and even the most purest of people would get a score of 1000 at the very least, they tested it with every kind of people after all, and a lot of people thought this was a rigged game, that if you played you would get always a losing ticked.


    There were two things that had never happened before, first was getting a score below to 1000, and the second was to get the score above 100 million, Cyan future was getting darker and darker.


    Arlom was regretting giving the medallion to Cyan, he was actually experimenting to see if he really didn¡¯t have any medallion, and in that case maybe this one would be bound to him, it was better that having him one with 1000 points that without a medallion drawing all attention even if it was already too late for that, but it was actually to reinforce his theory of the seventh gate, he was expecting to see the counter go back to 1000, but to be a full score of almost 10 billion.


    The results where beyond his expectations, he was thinking that a having him with a medallion was less eye catching but it was too late now.

 Chapter 6: Rocks

    Chapter 6 - Rocks


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master please tell me what is this all about, 10 billion that is too much¡±


    Arlom shook his head this disciple of his was a lost case


    [Arlom]: ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, go back to sleep I will call you in 8hrs you will need all your energy for tomorrow, or you want me to start calling you stupid again¡±


    Cyan immediately stopped talking and got up from his chair, he did not want to revived that trauma, he has just prevented his name to be changed to Stupid and his master was already regretting it?, ¡®no way, I must run away before he really changes his mind¡¯,


    Before his master could say anything else, Cyan without saying anything else, started to run away from the circular room into the dark tunnel to the room he was before.


    He did not stop until he arrived in front the his bed made of rock, this time he willingly lay down over the rock and closed his eyes, and with a full stomach he marched to the dream world again, he didn¡¯t think he would have any problem to fall asleep again, even if he has just woken up 30 minutes ago, he was still tired with sleepy eyes, not to his surprise after he found a good position to sleep it didn¡¯t took long to fall asleep.


    Back in the circular room, Arlom looked over Cyan running figured and he could only think only one thing ¡®he is way too slow¡¯, even the slowest of the snails in this forest would be faster than him, that were Arlom honest thoughts at this moment.


    ¡®but building his strength would take too much time and that¡¯s something we don¡¯t had right now, in 1 month the monster king will make his move or other hunters will come attacking me, sigh, the good thing is that weak body of his can be trained for speed, if he can flee the fight then we can buy the time we need and with time we can start training his strength, so he can fight back later, but I first need to make him faster, faster than anyone else in this forest, is the only way, but his stamina will be problem, sigh, there are too much problems¡¯


    Arlom was trying to make a sound training plan for Cyan, prioritizing survivability over combat power, Cyan fist were weak, and if he were to throw a punch at him it would be just a laughable act.


    ¡®He doesn¡¯t even have a skill or knows anything about the mana of this world, just what I got myself into, is there really not any hope?¡¯


    Arlom shook his head almost giving up before he realize something he has forgotten in his sea of his despair, one thing has come to his mind, a name, well actually there were two names, one was Cyan and the other.


    ¡®Serah name¡¯


    She has given her name to him and they have form a connection, even if Serah was death her wasn¡¯t, and that¡¯s something thing Arlom could put his hopes in.


    ¡®I also had forgotten that Cyan has already started showing that power very fast, yes there still hope, I can¡¯t give up without trying at least¡¯.


    Arlom nodded his head, his plan was coming together to make Cyan able to survive this place, in a sea of despair, hope still managed keep a float a tattered man floating in the surface, now he needs someone to guide him.


    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Like a Clock 8 hours later, Arlom was in front of Cyan that was still sleeping, after giving him the stamina potion and forcing the body to use his hidden reserves Cyan was able to sleep over almost a whole day.


    Even in this bed made of rock he was still sleeping with a calm face, this time he was not having nightmares, his weak body has allowed him to sleep in a bed made of rock, after finding a good position, he could slept without much problems.


    Arlom shook his head, this was becoming a habit of him now, ¡®whatever, if he dies he dies, I don¡¯t care anymore¡¯.


    All the hopes and dreams that Arlom has being building up, while Cyan was asleep were destroyed in an instant by Cyan sleeping face, he was always at his limits worry that someone would come attacking them and Cyan was just sleeping without a care in the world.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Wake up now!¡± With bulging vein, Arlom kicked Cyan in his stomach, throwing him out his bed.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Who told I was your Mother and that I will wake you every morning with a gentle knot on the door¡±


    Cyan was hit so hard that all the air in his lumps was kicked out of him too, he could not response to Arlom, let alone breathe or make other sound more than a gasping sound, he was trying very hard to fill his lumps with air again, and so far it looked like an impossible task for him.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Whatever, you have 30 minutes to eat and be ready to start training, if you are not in the central room in 30 minutes I will leave this base, leaving you behind, and I am never coming back for you, so good luck trying to live for 1 month without me after I leave¡±


    After throwing a plate of food into the floor, Arlom turned around started to walk away to the central room that Cyan had used to eat his food yesterday.


    After 10 minutes Cyan could regain his normal breathing, and after letting a few coughs, he started devouring the food, he did not have much time, he only took 5 minutes to eat the food, but after he finished it he has now realized that, he has in fact made a terrible mistake again, Arlom had given him 30 minutes, he use 15 of those 30, then to walk to the exit of this tunnel will only take top 5 minutes, then for what are the other ten extra minutes?.


    In this small frame of time, Cyan could remember Arlom word, ¡®don¡¯t be so trusting¡¯ before he started feeling a pain in his stomach that was growing, and soon it has became a pain like never before, like something was devouring him from the insides, everything blurred now and spinning.


    Before the pain has started, he realize he had forgotten to check the food for poison, and he tried to puke out the food, but his stomach was refusing to puke such a tasty food, and like Arlom has said, the pain he was feeling right now, it was not far of wishing to be dead.


    Arlom has giving him 10 minutes in case that Cyan was stupid enough to eat the food without checking for the poison, he put in some pills and mixed with the food, if Cyan search it for it, he would had found them very easily and he could remove them allowing him to eat the food with no problems, but now it was too late, the mistake has being done.


    In the circular room was Arlom


    ¡¯30 minutes has passed, that stupid child did really eat the poison even after I warned him yesterday, sigh¡¯


    Turning around Arlom started to walk away to leave this cave forever, but just after he took the second step he stopped and turned around again, he could see a zombie walking out of the tunnel, that zombie was Cyan, holding himself with the walls, and walking like a dead body would, but some way or another he has made it in time, well actually he has not, but Arlom has a soft hearth, even if he himself would never admit that.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Good, it seems you like my food so much that have come running for more, What did you say? I have some extras want another plate?¡±


    Cyan white face become even more whiter in an instant, he was a ghost by human standards right now


    [Arlom]: ¡°But you made it at the end, I was about to leave this place, you are very lucky indeed, here drink this¡±


    Throwing a Violet bottle into Cyan, Arlom started to walk into a corner with a smile in his face, he was 99% sure that if Cyan eat the poison he will never make it in time, well, at least it was ¡®almost in time¡¯ that was good enough for him.


    Cyan in the other hand was looking the bottle with a very suspicious gaze, this bottle was filled with a violet liquid, not green or red, it was another color he has never seen before, but the pain in his body was making him unable to think any longer, so he drink it, another strange fluid has entered Cyan mouth and body.


    Instantly the pain started to be reduce until it was almost all gone, Cyan could finally leave a sigh of relief, he thought he was done for this time, ¡®f¡­¡­ the first day and I already screw things up¡¯, without giving him time to recover Arlom was talking again.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Good, if you are ready, then let us begin, go and stand there, in front of that wall over there, that one with the big red target, or you do really want to waste more time to eat more of my food¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Cyan immediately shook his head, ¡®I don¡¯t want go through that hell ever again in my life¡¯


    Arlom could almost read his mind, too bad for Cyan but he was planning to put poison in everything Cyan would touch until he become immune to it, speed and strength were not the only strengths a person can have, he can¡¯t build his strength right now but he can strength his resistances and his stamina.


    Ignoring Cyan stupid look Arlom nodded his head.


    Cyan mind went numb, ¡®What! Just beginning and I almost die! And what¡¯s up with that big ominous target do you think I am stupid!¡¯


    [Arlom]: ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself or I will feed you more poison in your dinner.


    A new trauma has being implanted into Cyan, without thinking he started running and put himself in front of the target.


    ¡®Now that I think about this look similar to that training I saw once in TV, no wait it can¡¯t be right¡¯ looking over where Arlom was standing he saw a big pile of rocks, ¡®I am really going to die today, sigh¡¯


    Still not wanting to believe in the true before his eyes, Cyan could not help but to ask


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master those rocks over are for?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°At least you are not blind after all, but you are not that smart either, nevertheless I am glad that you are getting more stupid¡±


    Arlom nodded his head, Cyan was starting to use his brain, and he was only ignorant of true. A pile of rocks and a big target what else can be?


    [Arlom]: ¡°very well as a reward for using your brain I will only use one arm, my left arm is still a little new, so I will be using this target practice to train my arm too, try to dodge as much as you can, and Cyan, try to not die, now, on 3, 2,.. ¡±


    Before Arlom has finished his count down something was already flying in Cyan direction.


    Pah!!!


    The sound of a rock smashing onto the wall behind him hit his ears


    Cyan was not a fool, it was very obvious, that how much of a cheater Arlom was, he will surely start throwing rocks without finished his counting or saying a thing, so Cyan has put a good position to start dodging bullets, I mean rocks, a long time ago and looked over Arlom every move.


    But that thrown was out of this world, not even a professional baseball player could throw so fast, he did not notice the rock hitting the wall behind him until the sound was in his ears.


    Arlom looked has assume a ¡®serious-serious¡¯ now, implying that the real training has begun, and not more playing time was to be allowed.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Even if you are prepare for it, there are thing that you can¡¯t prepare for, so you need to prepare for that too, do you understand?¡±


    ¡®Understand your mother, what is that being prepare for the things I don¡¯t prepare for! Who can prepare for that, but that rock I never saw it until the end, this is your slowest speed?¡¯


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master your arm is still recovering, you should not put that much strength in it, I am concerned you could injure yourself that way¡±


    Another trauma was born into Cyan, fear of rocks and anything that look it could throw a rock.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Thanks for your concerns, but don¡¯t fret, it will not get hurt at this level, very well, lets us begin for real this time¡±


    With that final words for Cyan grave, Arlom started to thrown rocks at the ¡®target¡¯, they were at much lower speed than the first one, at the level of ¡®I can see them but even so I can¡¯t avoid them¡¯.


    Cyan still could not dodged the lowered speed rocks, every rock hit his mark, that is to say Cyan, but there was something weird, even Cyan was sure he had dodged the rock, like if they were guide by a laser, they will still hit their intended target.


    A rock would be aimed to his head head when he got distracted with stupid thoughts, and even if he could it coming he could still not dodged it.


    When he was trying to move from his spot in front of the target a rock will hit is legs making him fan to the ground and the a rain of rock will fall upon him in his defenseless state until he could stand again.


    Some broke his finger when started using his hand to block the rocks instead of trying to avoid them.


    Finally there were the rocks that he has actually avoided, it was one of his greatest and happy moments only to the rock ricocheted on the wall behind him and finally hit in the back of his head, bringing him back to reality.


    It was like Arlom was mocking him, all the time, so he has one of those outburst of anger like yesterday, at least his eyes were not hit nor his weak spots, so 98% of Cyan body got plumed down into a pulp but even with that Cyan never stopped trying to avoid the rocks, no, he would be in worse condition if he stopped trying.


    After 2 hours, Arlom stopped and has come closer to where remaining¡¯s of Cyan were, ¡®yes finally a break¡¯ Cyan thought, but after that Arlom arrived in front of Cyan with a ¡®smiling¡¯ face, of course his face expression has never change, Cyan was feeling that something bad will happen again.


    With a wave of his hand two potions appeared in front of Cyan, one green and one violet, this time Cyan knew very well what the green potion did, and what was his destiny with it, ¡®Rest? You can rest when you are dead¡¯ is what was in Arlom mind. 100% means 100%


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master¡­.. Please can you also give me a red one?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°So you understand, that¡¯s good, but unfortunately I can¡¯t give you one of those, if I give you the health potion all your 2 hours of training will be gone to waste, and I can¡¯t not allow that, if I want to toughen out your body even a little bit¡±


    A big smile appeared in Arlom hypothetical face, making Arlom look very sinister, if Cyan has asked about the red and the green then he will obviously ask why I took the other.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master¡­ I understand why the green one but then¡­ why are you giving me a violet one, I did it so badly that you will feed me with poison again?¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Please master, at least let me heal my hands¡±


    Cyan was clear that he has not managed to avoid one single little rock in the 2 hours of training, and he was very afraid he will be to be feed with poison again.


    Actually Cyan never understood that this training today was not for him to actually dodge the rocks in the first place, but to get hit by them, but of course Arlom will never say that to him.


    Arlom nodded his head, ¡®right I never told him what the Violet potion actually did right?¡¯, another smile appeared over his already existing smile making Arlom look even more sinister.


    ¡®Master what happen to the gentleman with a hearth of gold, which was smiling the first day we meet¡¯.


    [Arlom]: ¡°You see stupid child, you never asked me what this violet potion actually do, but if you wait 10 more seconds you will know for sure¡±


    Cyan brain started to think as fast it could, his brain was starting to develop a defense thinking mechanics against this devil in a master disguise of his.


    He could only think one thing ¡®that violet potion removed the poison from before but, then why is he is giving me another one, I don¡¯t think the rocks could have poison right? Unless¡­. unless¡­¡¯


    Cyan remember it the word of his master then ¡°you never asked me what this ¡®potion¡¯ actually do¡°, he has made emphasis in the word ¡®potion¡¯


    ¡®it was not to remove the poison in my body, sigh, but just to suppressed it, which means the poison has never left my body in the first place¡¯


    With a stupid face of realization, the pain that was suppressed by the violet potion had returned, this time with full force.


    With the groans of pain of Cyan, Arlom hopes for escaping this place have grew a tiny bit.


    ¡®Surviving for the first 2 hours that¡¯s quite an achievement, it was 50/50 that you would die but you are stronger than I thought, now your chances for the next 2 hours will be only 55/45, rejoice Cyan, you are doing great¡¯


    Of course if you said that to Cyan he will puke blood and die on the spot.


    What the poison did was, make the person that drinks it feel an unbearable pain, what the violet potion did was the opposite, make the person that drink it, don¡¯t feel any pain, but the poison duration was 4 times longer than of the violet one, and both of the can be considered to be poison, depending in how you see it. Taking both at the same time, what a nice way to increase your resistance to poison.


    Arlom thought a way to train Cyan resistance to poison at the same time that his resistance to pain, while allowing him to move, to train his speed, Cyan mind was numb, but his body still could feel the pain, it was the brain that said it was pain or not, you can fool the brain but no the body.


    But then again, why did he still feel the pain when he got hit with rocks, the answer to that was, Arlom has made a chirurgical potion, tailored to his own needs.


    He has made the pain poison and the anti-pain ¡®medicine¡¯ so it doesn¡¯t affect the skin pain receptors in the brain, Arlom was very proud of this, and of his training method too.


    ¡®After his body can handle this grade of pain, I will adjust the doses by giving him more poison and less medicine, until his skin becomes green Bahahahah, I am want to see that stupid face he puts all the time when he notices it, hum but what if I don¡¯t find any excuses to feed him any more poison?¡¯


    Turning around and looking over a Cyan groaning in pain in the floor another smile has come to Arlom hypothetical face, it was a record for him to be ¡®smiling¡¯ so much in a single day.


    ¡®hahahaha with how stupid he is, tricking him to eat poison will be easy, I¡¯ve never had so much fun in day like this since I enter this forest¡¯


    Arlom was holding back his laughter, but unknowingly to Arlom, he was growing fond of Cyan at the same time.


    Cyan in the other hand was starting to hate Arlom with all his strength.


    Finally with trembling hands, Cyan managed to get a hold of the violet potion and managed to drink it, making the pain disappear again, and healing his broken fingers, it seems the violet potion has some recovery proprieties too, he has realize now.


    ¡®Arlom has always called this violet liquid a potion not an antidote, if I want the antidote I need to ask for it? But then again why he gave me the poison and a suppressor for it to begin with, but¡­ still¡¯.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master the antidote for the poison¡±


    Arlom nodded his head again, Cyan was overcoming his expectations with each passing minute, maybe not everything was lost, so what he should do now, make the training easier for Cyan?


    ¡®Of course not! I will double it!¡¯


    [Arlom]: ¡°I will give it to you, if you can dodge a least one rock by the end of the day, if you do that I will not only give an antidote, I will you the best food you ever had, and without any poison in it, you have 6 hours until the training of today ends, Work Hard Cyan¡±


    Arlom turned around but before he started to walk, he had forgotten to tell Cyan something important


    [Arlom]: ¡°That¡¯s right, we also need a penalty for you if you fail the test, if you can¡¯t dodge even one rock, I will put poison in your food for one week¡±


    Arlom nodded his head and started to walk away with a smile in his face, he will make it or break it.


    There is not time to lose or to fall in despair, and tricking this fool to eat potion was a walk in the park for him, he needs make Cyan into the best ¡®human¡¯ of this forest if he wants to not die in 1 month.


    ¡®Even if he a stupid child, he have some good points on him and he learn fast, I can¡¯t wait to see in what he will become¡¯


    Funnily enough Arlom was starting to have the same exact thoughts that the Monster King.


    Turning around he could see Cyan standing ready to dodge the rocks like his life depend on it.


    Arlom hypothetically smile disappeared when he turned around to look at Cyan, ¡®this stupid child did not asked how much time the poison will last for, he is as stupid as always¡¯


    Arlom shook his head again, and started throwing rocks faster than before.

 Chapter 7: The power of food

    Chapter 7 The power of food


    Panting on the floor was Cyan, 5 hours has passed has passed in this hell that Arlom called ¡®training¡¯.


    Every two hours the pain inflicted by the poison would come back to haunt him, but each time Arlom has delayed by one minute into giving him the violet potion, why?


    Well that¡¯s because each time the piles of rocks at the side of Arlom will increase, and with a bigger amount of rocks Arlom started to thrown them faster, but somehow they still depleted in two hours and 1 minute, increasing one minute each time.


    This was his plan all along to teach Cyan the basics of skills of the legendary category, math¡¯s, and the sub category, time counting!


    In this world a university student would be considered a genius in those skills. In this 5 hours, Cyan has learned the skills that he did not knew he have in him. Like keeping track of how many rocks were left by looking over the height of the pile rocks. The time interval between each rock thrown that would change every two hours becoming faster and faster. How to keep track of the time, every second need to be counted and an accounted for to dodge the next rock.


    Meanwhile he was learning how to move his body, while gritting his teeth¡¯s getting ready to get hit, no rock has missed his mark as of yet.


    He also has learned other not such good things, like the oppression to be against a terrific opponent that you could not beat, and even worse the nerve twisting pressured to be against the clock, every two hours there will be an unbearable pain, and Arlom will delay giving him the violet potion by one more minute each time


    The pain of getting his by a rock was like a joke to him now, it really hurt and he was in pain, but it was nothing compare with pain the poison in his body did, at least his fingers would not be broken anymore, he had learned that blocking with his hands was also a bad idea too.


    He also has learned a new cheat that Arlom would do, if he still have some rocks by the side even when the two hours are up and the poison has taken effect, he will keep throwing rocks until the pile is empty, he also learned that the poison was always on time, without a single second of delay.


    Cyan was learning how long 2 hours can truly become when ones perspective of time changed, as the time can become very long or very short, he wanted to drag the time as long as he could in the previous 2 hours, but when the pain started he wanted to be over with it as fast as he could, changing his vision of how time is perceived.


    But the thing was, Cyan did not managed to dodge a single solitary rock until now, with 1 hour and 3 minutes left into the clock, and with all those skills that were just approximations that he was making, and not a real and exact number.


    Even if his most accurate number was time, and his brain has never stopped working, trying to calculate everything, trying to guess where the next rock will be coming, how much time is left in the clock to the poison to take effect, how many rocks are left, where he need to move to dodge the next rock and how that will affect the his next movement.


    Even with all that, he still has not managed to dodge a single rock so far.


    In this last hour, Cyan has just started moving on with his body reflexes, it was what you call instinctive movement.


    But in actual fact it was more like his own body was too tired of being hit by the stupid rocks, and was revealing against the brain, and so, it started moving on his own, it was like his body was saying something like.


    ¡®you are a worthless brain, you keep getting us hit, over and over again we get hit, you are to slow, I will not listen to you any more, I will handle the movement from now own, you just keep track of the time and predicting where the next rock will be, I will handle the rest, but I am sure you are so stupid that can¡¯t even just do that¡¯


    It was like his own body was developing a brain of his own and was actually calling Cyan brain stupid.


    But of course even with that, at the end of the hour the result did not change at all, Cyan still got hit by all the rocks until the end, you could even hear the brain mocking the body now, it was like it was saying something along the lines of


    ¡®HA! See, who is the stupid now, is not like you could dodged a single rock too, you stupid body, you are slow as a snail, is not my fault that we keep getting hit, it is because you just are too slow, are you in pain? are you? Good, you deserve it for being stupid, I will not help you with the pain now¡¯


    The only thing the body could was ¡®tsk¡¯ and keep moving on.


    In the fight between the body, that was in huge amount of pain, and the brain, that was tired to death for overworking his own being, a huge roaring sound was heard breaking them apart.


    The brain and the body went in silent, now that it was the turn to the stomach to act, he was awake now and very angry, after all, what the stomach thought, it was plate full of tasty food was in fact, food full poison, so, more than the brain or the body, he was in a world of pain right now.


    But even so the stomach still refuse to throw out the tasty food out, there were good stuff in that food that can¡¯t be waste, and the hidden reserves of the body were empty.


    ¡®Throwing out the food? Don¡¯t joke with, whom would be able to thrown a perfectly fine food just because it has a little poison in it¡¯


    After all, it was his personal battle again the poison, a battle that he was losing from the beginning.


    But every two hours and some minutes help would come, Cyan will drink a potion that will calm down the pain, making the stomach able to bear with it and sleep while still trying to neutralize the poison, but now the time was up, and the stomach was roaring with full force now, and it was making Cyan to suffer immensely, it could be metaphoric, but the brain, the body, and the stomach, all of them were part of the same entity called Cyan, if one of them is to suffer, all of them would too, even if just was with less intensity that the others, they were connected.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    The brain could not help but to sigh.


    ¡®look what you have done, you have awoken up him, that stupid stomach that can only think of food and can¡¯t even throw the food when I told him to, we would not be in this mess right now, I don¡¯t know who is more stupid you or him¡¯


    The body was speechless, why are you calling me stupid when was the stomach that did that not me.


    ¡®Shut up you stupid brain, it was supposed you that needs to keep track of time and when he would wake up, you should be the one trying to calm the stomach down, this is all you fault after all, because you could no convince him to thrown out the food with the poison back then¡¯


    The brain sighed, this was a pointless fight, what is done is done, they just need to hold the pain and wait, and it will be over eventually, this fight has repeated three times already and it was always the same.


    Even while this chaotic ambient was taking place inside, Cyan has keep trying to dodge the rocks until the last one, this time, he needs to bear the pain for 3 minutes, 3 full minutes with strongest pain he has felt so far, the longest and pain filled moments of his entire life.


    A pain that was making him unable to move


    But in this history there is a hero after all, and that hero is¡­..


    ¡®You Fools, did you think I would throw out such perfectly fine and tasty food, this pain, this poison¡­. This is nothing I will also devour it and I will have the best food ever after that. ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRRR¡¯


    With a big roar that has come of the stomach, the pain that was making Cyan almost unable to move, lessen enough to the point that he could move out of the way of an incoming rock, this was also thanks to the tremendous efforts of brain and body were always putting, even if they were shocked by the stomach, they still knew this was not over, it was never over.


    With the pain out of the way, they could try one last time before the pain came rushing back, they did not wanted to be hit again, they hate it with everything they have, even it was just this time, just this one rock, they wanted to dodge it.


    Even if the body was barely holding up, he still did not give up, the body was ¡®thinking¡¯ something like


    ¡®That stupid stomach, if he could win against that stupid poison, even if just for one moment, I can also win against a stupid rock, hey! Stupid brain are you ready¡¯


    The brain has also not given up


    ¡®You don¡¯t know anything else that calling stupid to everything?, but whatever, you better be ready too, you stupid body, I always have been keeping track of the stupid rocks, the next one will be at the head and center, with how is Arlom personality is, it will be there I can guaranteed it¡¯


    The body nodded with his imaginary head


    ¡®You better not be wrong about this, or I will always call you stupid brain¡¯


    The body could not stop to say his last words to the brain, now, everything was in his ¡®hands¡¯


    As soon as the rock left Arlom hand, Cyan body started to move automatically without him being aware of it, the body moved without checking out the trajectory with the brain or anything else.


    ¡®Dodge dodge dodge¡¯ was everything that was in Cyan brain, body and¡­. stomach.


    Sometime before all that drama inside Cyan body started, Arlom has keep throwing rocks at Cyan.


    Even went he went immobile due to the pain of poison, no, it was easier hit him this way, with Cyan not moving at all, so he aimed to his head, the best target he has thought of, so he threw the next rock without thinking too much about it, so, he did not put any especial method or anything in it, this time, it was Arlom being stupid and over confidence, and maybe it was his soft heart acting up.


    Cyan looked the rock flying in slow motion, he knew where that rock was headed, he did not think about it, but he knew where it will land, but, this time the pain was gone, and now he could move again.


    ¡®I just need¡­ to get out the way¡­ of this¡­ one rock¡¯


    Cyan thoughts were actually too slow, his body has started to move even before that.


    It was like responding to his wishes even before he made them.


    He could not look so he chose to close his eyes, he did not wanted to see the rock now, and he just wanted to concentrate into moving out the way of the rock.


    He was moving with everything he got now, but ¡®it is too slow, I can¡¯t dodge it with this speed, the rock will surly made a ¡®s¡¯ or a ¡®u¡¯ curve like the others and will not miss me¡¯.


    He the target was sure about that, but even so, he did not stopped moving, he can¡¯t give up now, and he has to move forward, what comes after that will always come.


    ¡®What if the rocks does an impossible curve, so what, I would still be trying to dodged it¡¯


    After thinking that, he hear it, it sounded like the first rock throw that Arlom has made at the beginning.


    PAHHH!!


    And then he fail pain in his head, he was sure of it, the rock has ricochet and has hit him he has failed.


    ¡®I was hit after all, but this time, it felt somewhat different, maybe he use a harder rock? Well it doesn¡¯t matter the next time for sure. I will dodged it, if not then next after that until I can dodge one¡¯


    A harder rock, Cyan was truly stupid somethings.


    Opening his eyes he could see that his face was against the floor, his head has hit the floor, and with a stupid look in his face, he looked up in the direction where his master was standing, he was expecting to see him throwing him another rock, but what he saw was the frozen figure of Arlom not moving at all, and just looking behind Cyan with a fix gaze and his expressionless face.


    Cyan could not help it and follow the gaze of his master, turning around he could see it, behind him, in the target wall there was two holes.


    The first hole was made by the rock that Arlom had thrown as a demonstration, and now there was another one, even when the rocks had ricocheted off the wall before, none has left a mark in the target, it can only meant one thing and one thing only.


    Cyan has finally in fact dodged his first rock, well you can called a strike of pure luck, but never the least he did it, he dodged it.


    Letting a sigh Cyan lost all strength in his body and fainted on the spot only thinking


    ¡®I did it master I really did¡¯ with a smile in his face Cyan was now in the dream world again.


    Arlom in the other side was happy, but, at the same time he was angry with himself, he had done it again, that last thrown was a metaphoric mercy kill, it was just to knock out Cyan, so he can take rest and not feel that pain for the full length of 3 minutes, with the poison that was at its peak.


    Even if this was a training session, his soft hearth for Cyan was growing, after 8 hours of what you can call torture, Arlom though ¡®you have done it very well until now Cyan, here have some rest, we will carry on tomorrow¡¯,


    Cyan was not supposed to move and dodge that, he was immobile by the strongest pain a human could feel, but he did, he move out the way and dodged it, and that was not only luck, he has also move faster than before to dodge that.


    If he has moved like always, he would surely get in the head, even if was a throw without any tricks on it, it was still the faster thrown Arlom has made, it was the same speed as the first, as his demonstration.


    ¡®The poison has loosed the effects 1 minutes before the estimated time, did I miscalculated? No, Cyan body has become tougher than I thought it will take¡¯ Arlom nodded his head ¡®Good¡¯ he thought.


    In actual fact there was not last bottle of violet potion, after 8 hours and some minutes, the poison in Cyan body will lose all the effects naturally, so there was no need to giving him one last potion for the pain, he has just to hold for 3 minutes, the rock training it was all about this last tree minutes.


    Those last minutes will concentrated all the of 8 hours pain, normal humans beings would die just with that amount of pain alone, but Cyan not only has managed to survived it, he overcome it, this is amazing on his own rights, but at the same time, he has also overcome his own speed too.


    Letting a sigh, Arlom started to walk to Cyan, and without saying anything he took him to Cyan his room and leave him there, turning around and walking away, you could hear his voice while he talking away.


    [Arlom]: ¡°You did very good today Cyan, I will be back in 2 hours, rest until then, I will bring you the best and tastiest food you ever had, so wait for it¡±


    ¡®ROAAAAAAR¡¯


    A sound that was like a roar was hear, it was like the stomach was saying something like ¡®don¡¯t make wait too long you stupid poison freak¡¯


    Arlom did not notice what the roar meant beyond that Cyan was very hungry, so Arlom hurry up and left Cyan room.

 Chapter 8: Question

    Chapter 8: Question


    2 hours later in a dark room was Cyan awakening from his short travel to the dream world.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Where i am, a that¡¯s right the rocks¡±


    Looking around Cyan could remember what has happen, after dodging one rock he has hit his head with the ground, even if he could remain awake everything was spinning making him lost his conscious very fast, but he could still remember dodging the rock.


    [Cyan]: ¡°sigh, I am so tired, since I arrived here I always being so tired¡±


    Even after resting for about 2 hours Cyan body was in worse condition than this morning, the repeated processes of the training has pushed to his limits over and over again, and Arlom will always give him some green liquid that Cyan was calling now stamina potions.


    Everything that Cyan thought this was it, Arlom would give him a potion bringing back the strength he didn¡¯t he had in him, he couldn¡¯t other thing that keep going, keep trying to dodged the rocks


    Laying down in his bed Cyan started to remember that last second, where everything in his view went to a slow motion, everything was moving so slow, now he tried to remember that feeling while it was still fresh in his mind.


    Closing his eyes he was trying to recount how it was supposed to be, how that slow world was again, wanting to enter in that zone again before he forgets how the feeling was, but he still did not managed to enter in that stated again, he remember it has something to do, to how he was keeping track of timing, and he was trying to make a second as long or as short as he could, but he still couldn¡¯t repeated that stated of my again, Cyan could only give up for now.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Forget it, I am too tired right now, sigh, and I am so hungry too, whatever, if I managed once I will managed next time too, is time to get moving now, I don¡¯t know how much time has pass but how my body feels, I don¡¯t think much time has passed¡±


    Now Cyan could roughly guess time, something he was not capable of doing before, even if he was in dream land.


    In actuality, 2 hours has passed since Cyan fainted in front of Arlom, Cyan did not know the exact amount of time, but his stomach surly does.


    The promised time for the best food he has ever had was up, proving once again that his stomach really has some impressive time keeping skills, his stomach will always remember when is time to eat breakfast, lunch or dinner, even if Cyan forgets what time, no, especially when Cyan forget what time is.


    He, the stomach has the most important job than all, he would ¡®kindly¡¯ give him a remainder, this time it was a little different, but yet the same, his stomach was like ¡®hey, brat you better wake up, that hulky master of you said food will be ready in 2 hours, and time is almost up, I can¡¯t wait any more, be thankfully that I have the courtesy to wake you up, now let¡¯s get going¡¯


    Cyan started to stand up and what he heard was grumbling sounds coming from his stomach, remaining him once again that he needs to eat, and for some weird reason he has not need to go to the toilet, like all his food was being consumed and nothing was being put into waste, maybe it was a weird effect of the green potion? Who knows, but for sanity check he will ask Arlom about it.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Sigh, I am so hungry, I wonder if Arlom will keep his promise to give me some food, it better be is not poisoned this time¡±


    Without saying anything more, he started walking in the direction of the circular room, that he now called the training room, also known as hell room, because he will become hotter and hotter as time goes by, then the temperature will peak and then slowly drop again.


    If not for that, the training was being carry on there, he would never put a foot in there during those times, and the heat was almost unbearable, but Arlom has had prepare a huge pot of cold water for him every for 2 hours, he would drink liters of water each time, then Arlom would store the water again in some imaginary place, at least that¡¯s how it looked for Cyan, if the waster was keep outside, Cyan was thinking that maybe that water would boil up and evaporate, that how hot it was.


    ¡®And I had to carry on training in there? Sigh¡¯ Cyan was now going for the world record of sigh he could do in a week now, nevertheless he keep walking on.


    Half way trough he could smell it, food, someone must be cooking it, and it was smelling too delicious, in fact Cyan has forgot about his tired body and sprinted away in a dash, but his body was in charge of the movement, even if the brain say run, he could barely walk or move, let alone run, walking was already taking a big toll on him.


    So his body did not worked as Cyan wished to do, stopping him from running like saying.


    ¡®hey hey calm down you stupid brat, nobody will take your food away, lets walk for now, you can¡¯t go on running right know, sigh, this brat is too much, hey you stupid brain do something about this¡¯


    The brain was a little hurt, that wasn¡¯t his fault, it was the stomach fault, but whatever, ¡®believed what you want stupid body¡¯ why explain something so obvious to this stupid body.


    Maybe this was the voice of his conscience? Cyan choose it was better just to walk for now, his body was hurting all over the place.


    A soon he started running, he felt pain in his numb limbs, with a grunt escaping from Cyan mouth he halted right away.


    ¡®sigh, I guess I should just walk for now¡¯ once again the record was one step more closely to Cyan.


    Cyan remember once again, that he was not a machine, instead of hurting himself he choice to walk, but albeit a bit faster than before.


    Finally Cyan reached the training room, but now it was more like the cooking room, you could see a grand kitchen in the center that was not there before, but the small table with two chairs was the same as before.


    He wanted ask where it has come from, but he could take a guess that it has something to do with the waving hands Arlom do from time to time in to the air.


    ¡®sigh whatever, I will ask about that later¡¯ what was Cyan thoughts? ¡®Just brush those questions for later¡¯ he wanted to eat so badly right now, his body need to eat.


    Coming closer to the table from in the center of the room Arlom started speaking to him.


    [Arlom]: ¡°So you did wake up in exactly 2 hours, that stomach of yours is really good to keep the time just right, if only your brain could do the same time, sigh, well whatever, come on and sit down, the food will be ready soon¡±


    Arlom did not turned around to look at Cyan, but he could hear a roar coming from Cyan stomach like saying ¡®thanks for the praise, that is to be expected of me, now feed me you poison freak¡¯


    In the other hand Cyan has some questions on his own that need to be answered before he sits in the chair after all.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master¡­. Did¡­.. did I really dodged that last rock, when I woke up I remember it well, that rock path was¡­ fixed right?, I mean the other rocks always move in the air like they were guided missiles and made this strange turns, but that last one¡­. That last one did not do so, so did you have pity on my and that¡¯s¡­. that¡¯s why y... ¡°


    Before Cyan could finish Arlom interrupted him.


    [Arlom]: ¡°So you took notice on that to, good work Cyan, you too have my praises, the answer your question, yes, you are correct, I did not put any tricks on that rock, and no, I didn¡¯t took pity on you, the actual fact is that that rock was the fastest rock I have thrown for you today, it was as faster than the first one¡±


    Cyan was making a confuse face right now. As faster than the first one? As faster than rock that could not even being seen by him at the beginning? Even when he was not distracted? Would he not be dead right now if he didn¡¯t avoid that? Did you want to kill me so badly old man?


    Cyan was wishing to say all that to his master, but how could he, he could ask about the mysterious turns the rocks would made, that made them able to never miss their marks, those tricks.


    [Cyan]: ¡°What do you mean by tricks? Master¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I indeed did not put any mana control on it or any other trick on it, it was just a straight path, right at the middle of your head¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°I knew it you took pity on me¡­ wait what?... Right at the middle¡­ my head¡­ straight path¡­. Master¡­ you really were trying to kill me after all¡­, sigh¡±


    Arlom could only shook his head, before Cyan could continue his self-deprecation, self-joking speech, Arlom continue speaking


    [Arlom]: ¡°However, I had fully intended to hit you with it, in actual fact, it was the fastest rock that I had thrown today because I did not put any trick on it, you should also be aware of that too, that the speed you used yourself to dodged it, it was not your normal speed, you enter in that slowdown world didn¡¯t you?Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Cyan was now speechless, it was the fastest rock because it didn¡¯t any trick on it? Was this right? Arlom eyes didn¡¯t seem like lying.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I had never looked down on you, you on your own predicted the path, and moved accordingly to dodged it, and you did it by yourself, in a real fight will cost your life if you think that the enemy is going easy on you, or you think that someone that is coming to take your life will have pity on you and spared you? What would you say to them in that case?... Of course nothing you will make use of that in your favor.


    Cyan was speechless it is true that the rock was in an easy path to be dodged, but only because he moved fast enough was the reason he could actually avoid the hit.


    Cyan nodded his head and sit down in the chair, now he could eat without any worry that he didn¡¯t deserve the food or something like that, at least there would not be a load in his mind if he did so.


    [Arlom]: ¡°You did well in dodging it, boy, if in a fight you tell your enemy his mistakes then what is the point of me training you right? If is like that just go and jump of a bridge and save me the troubles for saving you¡±


    Arlom was right, in a real fight if his enemy did something he could exploit, why he would stop pointed out, in a real life battle this could become very costly, and it went both ways.


    Arlom has also learned his lesson too, now he was out of reason to feed Cyan poison, it was the perfect plan, now ruined, looking at the face of Cyan he wanted to feed him with poison so badly for making him miss something should not had be missed.


    [Arlom]: ¡°sigh¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master but I don¡¯t think I can move that fast again it was just luck¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, be luck or fate or my mistake throwing a rock with an easy path to be predicted, now is not time to think about that, you need to eat and grow stronger, the speed that you have shown is still with you, deep inside you, I will awake that speed, even if it kills you, and then even if you are death or alive, I will make you even faster than you were before, and that¡¯s a promise in my name.


    Cyan eyes were like crying now but he still hold it in, was not there something wrong his promise? doesn¡¯t Cyan needs to be alive first? Are you not training him so he can keep his life? Nevertheless Cyan was moved by Arlom words.


    ¡®Arlom is going to such lends for me, even if only to find the seventh door he still putting a lot effort for me, I must not slake in my training¡¯


    Cyan nodded.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Thank you master, from now on please don¡¯t throw such easy rocks to dodge, I will take this food as an commemoration of the first day of the training, next time I will really dodge one of your guided rocks, then the food will be even more tasty than this one, thank you for everything so far, please take care of me¡±


    Cyan was bowing down to Arlom, until now he has done so much for him, he can paid him back on a later time, this was a fact in Cyan mind now.


    Arlom was very pleased with Cyan aptitude, after the first day of that hellish training, wherever he was poisoned and hit with rocks until he fainted, Cyan did not asked for a more easy training and was even not very happy about dodging that last rock, only using half luck, and half his only skills, what¡¯s he even asked Arlom for not to go easy on him.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that s.., ¡­Cyan, now eat up then we will carry on more training, and after that even more training¡±


    Arlom put a plate full of food in front of him.


    Cyan did not took notice of that smile that Arlom had made for a second, it was a real smile and not a hypothetical one.


    Cyan was too focus looking at the food in front of him, but this time he was very very suspicious of it, another word has enter Cyan brain, ¡®even more training after this, sigh, I am going to die today after all¡¯


    [Arlom]: ¡°what are you waiting for? The food will get cold¡±


    Cyan did not started to devour the food this time around like last time, but instead, he search it for poison, he has learned his lesson, and after 5 minutes sadly he found what he was looking for, two green pills inside the food.


    After removing them, he put them aside and casted a look over his master face again, his master was sitting in front of him eating his food without saying anything, no emotions was found in his face, even after he has found the poison pills.


    Arlom did not show anything reaction like ¡®What did you expected? That I would go easy on you after what you just had said, ha!, I did say I would not put poison in your food but, after your speech, it was not the same that asking for it yourself? You better not put my efforts to waste child¡¯.


    On the other Cyan was expecting this, nodding his head he carry on with his task¡­. searching for more pills inside his food.


    [Cyan]: ¡°So there really was poison in the food, but I can¡¯t be trick this time old man¡­ no wait I need to check for more¡±


    Another 10 minutes went by and Arlom as already finished his food, but he still was sitting in front of Cyan with his eyes closed and his arms crossed, this was a test, it was definitely a test.


    Cyan in other hand has just finish looking over the entire mountain of food Arlom has given him, he was hopping to not find any more pills but after he found over 10 he gave up on that though and searched all the food without missing anything.


    At the end he has found over 50 more pills, but the colors where different on some of them, some red, green, blue, yellow, and finally only one was white, after looking over the food and letting a sigh, and putting in his month, just then.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Why did you think there is no more poison in the food apart from the pills, even more why did you ask me about the pills colors and what they do, why you did not ask me before how long the poison would take, or if it would kill you, how it works, how it is made.


    All those questions that should have being made by Cyan were now coming out of Arlom mouth, should not be the other way around? Was Cyan ignoring those facts? Was he afraid of opening the box and find a dead cat?


    [Arlom]: ¡°it is that you don¡¯t trust me? if is like that, then you are a just a fool, what is the point in not telling you things like that, you are a fool for thinking that I would not tell you,¡­.. Did you really thought you could hide it from me, did that stupid brain of yours thought I could see it as clear as day?¡±


    Now the cat was out of the bag, now it was time for Arlom to make his move, and fix this fool in front of him, no matter how many chances Arlom was giving him, Cyan still was playing dumb, this can¡¯t carry on any more.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I don¡¯t think you are such a fool, what I am actually afraid is that you knew I would answer that kind of questions without any hitch but¡­ you choose not to ask¡­. sigh, Stupid child tell me the true, what happen to the little speech you were saying a little a while ago¡±


    What Arlom wasn¡¯t afraid of Cyan making the wrong questions, or stupid questions, What Arlom was afraid was that Cyan was not asking the questions he should be asking, any person would like to know even if just a little more, but with just one reply of Arlom saying he will learn eventually he did not asked any more questions after that, if was like Cyan did not wanted to anyone to tell him anything.


    [Arlom]: ¡°How to move to dodge the rocks, if the food have more poison, or if it was poisoned with other things other than those pills, or even if those pills are in fact poison, why you did not ask me anything and started doing things on your own, I am not your master?, why do you ask the stupidest questions before, but now you did not asked me a thing¡±


    Arlom was looking a Cyan with a serious face, the bad points of Cyan, he has notice them, he was always wanting to do things alone, that was his personality, he asked things but the really important parts he skipped them.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan why you did not asked what mana is¡±.


    This was it, this was the thing that was nagging him most in his mind, mana, everything in this world is based about mana, is the core of the world, to not even ask about that, it was too much for him to take.


    Arlom has allowed Cyan to be alone and to grow on his own, to find his own path, but if he doesn¡¯t know the basics of the basics he will make a mistake in the future when forming his path, this can¡¯t go on like this.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master I can¡¯t not ask you about everything right? Did not you said I would learn eventually in my own? Then allow me to learn what is mana is on my own¡­ mana is the thing you use to make things appeared from thin air right? And that fire and how you hunter down the animals to make this food, and, even when you cooked it you used mana for almost everything right?¡±


    Arlom shook his head, it was as he has guessed Cyan was not a fool but a stupid child, he notice everything but did not asked anything, he wanted to learn on his own, he wanted to be left alone and grown alone, a twisted tree will be twisted all his life if it is not fixed in his youth.


    ¡®no even if is early, trying to ¡®fix¡¯ him maybe is the wrong way, what should I do? Is this really the wrong path, I don¡¯t know all the paths, sigh, then there no other way¡¯


    [Arlom]: ¡°Yes I did said that, but I never say that I will not tell you did i? But that¡¯s just an excuse you made, I can take is not like you do not trust me, but you want to do things alone, that¡¯s admirable on itself but there are thing you can do and things you must learn from others¡±


    Cyan liked to do things on his own, alone, no, he even excels on everything he does, but not because he was a genius, but because he put all of his efforts to do that, in his school the year before, he was also known as the king of the school.


    Cyan got the looks and the brain to be at the stop of school, but his personality not reflected any of this, he was calm and compose, he was not overly friendly with everyone and did not had much friends of his own age in his grade, but those few where worthy of being call a friend by him, he did not have a huge ego, because everything he has achieved, was made with sheer effort, and was not a god gift.


    Be grades or sports, he was number one, and close behind him were his friends, they were known as the ¡®elite group¡¯ in the entire school campus, and Cyan was the one you can call the ¡°leader¡± of the group, not that him will care, every time someone of the ¡®elite group¡¯ would bring the name of the group or Cyan being the ¡®leader¡¯ Cyan would take it as he was just joking, he was just living his normal student life like everyone else.


    It was not until he got to some unknown place, where here, someone started to call him stupid over and over again, so he will show him, he show that, he was in fact not stupid and he will do it with sheer effort alone.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Then master will you answered my question?¡±


    Cyan face grew serious too, he wanted to ask something that was nagging his mind too.


    [Arlom]: ¡°You will not know until you ask¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Will you lie to me if I ask¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I can promise you that yes I will, when I think that is for your own good¡±


    Cyan let a sigh, but he was sure Arlom will not lie about what he wanted to ask.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Then¡­ why is that you can¡¯t leave this forest on your own using one of the six gates? That scary person, the monster king, has called you the Hunter King right? And Serah¡­. She was the Hunter Queen, so you must be very strong in here, no, in fact I think no one other that the monster king can match you, then if you only need to gather a number of points to leave this place, and I don¡¯t think you need 10 billion like me¡­. I don¡¯t think you are so softhearted that you will not kill other people too, no, you had killed Serah with no qualms or remorse, why is that, you are not gathering their medallions you need to leave.


    Cyan made a pause, after putting all the pieces together, the only missing piece was, why Arlom was still here, still in this forest.


    [Cyan]: ¡°If you are in a hurry to find your own son, then why is that you can¡¯t leave this place?¡±


    Arlom left out a sigh.


    ¡®if was this question after all¡¯


    He knew someday Cyan would be asking this question but since went has Cyan thought about it?, was not this too soon? Children are really scary after all.


    ¡®it must be from the very same day I told him about the medallion, he is not that stupid after all¡¯


    Letting another sigh Arlom looked right in the eyes of Cyan and started talking.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan did I told the history about when I became the hunter king?¡±


    Cyan shook his head, this was in fact the first time Arlom was telling him a history.


    [Arlom]: ¡°It was 5 years after entering this place, if was the day that i understood I could not escape this place using any of the six gates and that I could not become a monster either, even if I wanted to¡±

 Chapter 9: Answer

    Chapter 9: Answer


    [Cyan]: ¡°Even if you wanted to? Master what that means?... do you really wish to become in a monster?¡±


    Arlom shook his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Of course not! Is more in the literally sense, to become a Monster your points needs to reach 0 and then if you don¡¯t exit this place in the time frame of 1 month, you will be called a Monster automatically... become one, I had seen it happen before, but, my Medallion is¡­."


    Before Arlom could continue explaining Cyan interrupted him.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, was your medallion stolen from you by someone stronger than you, and now you can¡¯t get it back?I thought that nobody would be willing to steal a medallion if they didn''t get rid of you first¡±


    Cyan was pondering over the matter, since Arlom has started teaching him to use his brain at any moment to think, more a more questions would pop up in Cyan mind, and more he would like gather to information.


    Arlom shook his head once again.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid child, you said yourself, I am one the three kings, although I hate to be called by that name, I am still human after all, if someone were to steal my medallion, I would just steal it back, no, is something entirely different¡­.. my Medallion was not stolen, but it is broken, is stuck at 1 point remainingand no matter how many other Medallions it absorbs, the counter it won¡¯t go down below 1,so I can''t exit this place using the gates, nor I can become a monster either¡±


    Arlom took out his medallion, which it was displaying a red number like if was written in blood, and thatnumber was 0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.1, then he took another medallion that was 0.0.0.0.0.0.0.1.2.3.0.


    Following that, Arlom put them together, his medallion started to absorb the other with a golden light, but the score, it did not show any sings to be willing to move, it stayed silently in 1, and at the end, the absorbed medallion was transform into a rock, in fact this rock was with the same shape and form of the other rocks that Arlom would throw at him.


    A new mystery was born and it has being resolve in Cyan mind, ''so that''s where all the rocks come from''.


    He has never thought about the origins of the rocks, now that he knows, he came to know how ignorant he was about the simples of things, a rock was not ''just'' a rock anymore to him.


    Nevertheless Arlom has not finish, there was something else he need to tell Cyan, even if he was a little unwilling to.


    [Arlom]: ¡°You in other hand, can''t exit this place because there is not enough point''s in this forest for that, sigh¡­ I didn¡¯t wanted to tell you, but, that amount point''s, is impossible for you to gather it, when you absorb another medallion, the points in your Medallion will only be reduce by 1% of the other Medallion points worth, with a minimum of one point and a maximum of one thousand points, that''s to say, a hundredthousand points medallion, will give the max amount of onethousandpoints, but most medallions in here are in the range of the tenthousand to fifty thousand points, a medallion of hundredthousand medallion is rare, and those in the millions category are even more rare, but never the less they would still give you one thousand points so there is no point in thinking about them"


    Arlom could only let another sigh while he carry on explaining the reason to Cyan, as of why hecould not leave this forest, like Arlom himself, Cyan was stuck in here too, but at the same time it was for different reasons.


    [Arlom]: "That¡¯s is to say, even if you could gather everyone medallion in here, it would be still no enough¡­ Cyan, I am sorry for giving you that medallion, it was my mistake, sigh, nevertheless I didn''t wanted to give you a false hope, nor I wanted for you to fall indespair like me, but the true is as you can you see¡±.


    Cyan shook his head, Arlom didn¡¯t have any fault on this, how could he know what would happen after he gave him this Medallion, he was not stupid, 10 billion, the entire population of the earth planet was only 7 billon, no matter how big this forest is, it was not a planet size forest, there would not be a way to fit that many people inside this forest, and even if 1 person was equal to morethan one point, Arlom has told him the final nail in the coffin for him, a max out score of one thousandpoint''s.


    There was no need to say any more than that, and Cyan was sure he couldn''t pull that out now, would he be killing hundreds of millions of people? If not more, just for him to escape? Would not that make him into monster that Arlom was so afraid of? There is no way he would do that anyway.


    No, instead of feeling despair, he actually felt relief.


    If there was a hope in getting out by using the points, give him some years and maybe he would be tempted to try that way out, but knowing now that it was impossible to do from the beginning, it only would make it more easy for him, there would be less pressured in his mind.


    Instead he was now confident, he was in the same boat as Arlom, destiny has brought them together there was nothing more to say, and there was another plus to look at, following Arlom explication Cyan could think something out.


    [Cyan]: ¡°So it is like that, sigh, but master aren¡¯t that¡­ actually good news? That means my medallion worth''s only 1000 points tops right? Should that not make me less of a target to everyone in here?¡±


    Cyan face was now beaming with a confident smile, Glass half empty? No, the glass is filled right until here.


    Arlom could only do a bitter smile, how unlucky Cyan must be, do the heavens hate him or something? Now he has to destroy that smile of his oh not so stupid face, Arlom could only shake his head, of course it was not that simple, it never was...


    [Arlom]: "I had no finished yet. There is also a legend that says, a Medallion that is worth billions would give anyone that gets it a free pass out of here, and even more, for each billion it will give one pass, that''s to say, it makes you¡­ even more of a target to everyone, even the humans in this forest would be willing to be coming after you, of course¡­ this it is just a legend, but I doubt anyone will stop and ask if the legend aretrue or not"


    Cyan was frowning, can he not have something of luck? Arlom would give him ¡®good¡¯ news, only to bring the bad news after that, ¡®sigh this master of mine it is tooevil, he can¡¯t even give me even a moment of peace, but¡­¡¯


    Nevertheless Arlom would tell him the cold hard true, it will not dressed in pink, and it will be told tohis face, if Cyan can¡¯t handle it and accepted it, and then move on, what was the point of his training then?


    [Cyan]: ¡°Sigh, Master, I had already guess that out, that the amount of points would be almost impossible to gather¡­ and on top of that, everyone would become my enemy in here, of course, I never knew that it was to such degree, but Master, there is something else that, I want to know".


    Making a pause, Cyan raised his lowered head, he was beaming with confidence before but now his face was making a serious expression, now he was looking directly into Arlom eyes.


    There is was actually only one thing, that was making Cyan worry right now, something he could get an answer on his own, it was something he needed the help of Arlom to know.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I have only one question, one that, I want to know the answer no matter what... Master, are you my... enemy?"


    Arlom was struck by Cyan question, and a small word escaped his lips.


    [Arlom]: ¡°enemy?¡±


    That question has come from nowhere to Arlom, it was impossible for him to think he was Cyan enemy¡­ no, Arlom clearly understood Cyan intentions byasking this now.


    When they first met, Arlom has said to him, ¡®If you are not my enemy, I will not kill you¡¯.


    Then what is an enemy? Naturally, it is someone that has come after your life.


    Then why he would go after Cyan life? If not Cyan his last hope to get out of here? He needs him to reach the seventh gate, after all his medallion was stuck at 1 point left, and no matter what other medallions he used for that final single point, nothing changed, but, what if¡­ the legends are true?


    What if Cyan medallion is truly especial?


    Then would not that mean that, if he kills Cyan and use his Medallion, wouldn¡¯t he be able to leave out of this forest right this instant?


    For Arlom it was obvious that Cyan was not his enemy, but was Arlom, Cyan enemy?


    Arlom has tried to leave this forest using one of the six exists since the beginning, after all, which was his chosen path since he was thrown inside this forest?


    And he has stopped almost at nothing to do just that, but always trying to no cross the line that separates him from a monster, nevertheless, he has failed after all that inthe end.


    And the only thing it remained inside him was an infinite regret that filled his mind and eyes, everything he had done was worthless, every single sacrifice he has made, all of his struggles were in vain.


    Then to that infinite regret, what was one more sacrifice to make? A drop of water thrown into an ocean.


    Wouldn¡¯t be that easier? If he sacrifice Cyan now he could fulfill his wishes.


    Wouldn¡¯t that be faster?


    Wouldn¡¯t that the best end for Cyan too?


    Instead of making him suffer in this hell in form of a forest?


    Instead of dragging Cyan throughout a hell, searching for a gate that, you are not even sure that it even existed in the first place.


    Wouldn¡¯t ending Cyan history here, make Arlom a hero in Cyan eyes?


    You only need to make one¡­ little¡­ swing¡­ with that axe at your back and everything would be over. Cyan would be free, you will also be free, a happy ending for everyone, it isn¡¯t that what you want Arlom?


    That voice in Arlom head that grew stronger and stronger as the time went by, that voice that sounded just as himself, but Arlom could not admit it, he could not admit the darkness inside him.


    Arlom has never thought he could be Cyan enemy because he was blind to his own darkness, he could not even look at it, but Cyan could, and asking directly to Arlom was the only method for Cyan to make Arlom see it too, but this was very dangerous thing to do.


    While Arlom was in a trance, his hand has come very closely to the axe at his back, if Arlom choose to be Cyan enemy it would be over for him, but Cyan didn¡¯t wanted to live with a load gun by his side, this was the only way, it all depends on Arlom now.


    And Arlom choice was¡­


    ¡®ENOUGH!!!¡¯ With cheer mental strength of a person that has live most that anyone else in this forest, the voice was silenced in an instant.


    ¡®My quest, is to find my son, not to go around killing kids for my own selfish benefit, and I absolutely refuse to become a monster!¡¯


    ''I am Cyan enemy?'' Arlom could made that question to himself, now he could answer it.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Was Arlom the enemy? After everything Arlom has gone through, Arlom could only reply Cyan with the true.


    Arlom only thought was ''this stupid kid goes and do it again, sigh''


    [Arlom]: "Cyan, are you my enemy?"


    This was it, this was everything Arlom needs to say.


    Only a monster would say, he is not your enemy, no, Humansrules were even simpler, if you are not my enemy then I am not yours, and that was it.


    Cyan could only do a bitter smile to this cheating Master of his, what a cheat trick to push all the responsibility on to him.


    Cyan could only reply


    [Cyan]: "If you are my enemy then I am yours Master¡±


    Arlom nodded his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Good, don¡¯t forget that, if you come after my head you will become my enemy at that moment¡±


    It was time for Cyan to agree.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Right back at you master, if you become my enemy then I will become yours¡±


    Friendship? Trust? None of that matter in this forest, but there was a thin line between, hunters, monster and humans.


    And the line was only reduce to, if you attack me first, I will attack you back, and only a hunter or a monster would attack you first, this was the rule set of the human in this forest, and that¡¯s how the humans were able to stay alive in this forest, Arlom has told this rule to Cyan without telling him it was the rules of the humans.


    And this was the rule that Arlom has never crossed, at least that¡¯s how Arlom remembers it, if he has never crossed it, then why he is known as the hunter king? And why he¡­ was banish of the humans side¡­, like he had told Cyan, it was the day his counter was stuck at 1 point, trapping him between a human in denial, a hunter in title, and¡­ a monster hiding in the darkness.


    Arlom was afraid that the temptation of Cyan medallion would make any humans attack first, he himself has felt tempted but he overcome it at the end.


    Not middling Arlom struggled was Cyan, that had recover from his worry face.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, I am not stuck in here too? just like you, and like yourself, I need to find the seventh gate to escape, without giving up or without losing hope, what if my enemy¡¯s is the entire forest? As long are you are not my enemy Master, then there is nothing to be afraid of right?Now let''s find the seventh gate and escape this forest¡±


    For Cyan, Arlom was his role model, Arlom has never give up, and he still have hope in his eyes, how could he not look up to him.


    Cyan extended his hand, requesting a shake of hands.


    Arlom nodded his head, Cyan was not panicking nor despair could be seen in his eyes, but hope, but to have hope in his eyes, Arlom could only think that something was not quite right with this stupid in front of him.


    Nevertheless Cyan was not his enemy and he was not the enemy of Cyan, after so many sacrifices and so many regrets, Arlom choose not to sacrifice anything more to fuel even more that regret of his, extending his hand he reply back Cyan hand shake, with a strong hand shake of his own.


    Cyan was now a little a shame of himself, even if say he only have one last question, he in actual fact has a ton of them.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master actually there is some other thing I wanted to ask you about, it is about this place, I mean not this forest but¡­.. This planet, this¡­ this is not planet earth right? You said there was mana, and mana is something that¡­. doesn¡¯t supposed to exist in my world, you can only find about it... in books and legends¡±


    The missing piece of the puzzle in Arlom brain finally come together. ¡®So it was like that¡¯


    Arlom could only try to explain to Cyan to the best of his knowledge.


    Going back to his ¡®serious-serious¡¯ face was Arlom trying to explain Cyan where he was.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Sigh, Cyan you are in planet... Athem, in Athem mana is the universal law, everyone knows about it, because they were born with it, and most people know how to wield it, but only those with a high degree of control are called true wizards¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Then planet earth¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about other planets, but did you actually come from another planet with no mana? Then that would mean that you are!!!.......¡±


    Cyan eye lighten up, this is the answer he was looking for! He have a few answers of his own, he have read a lot of novel of transmigrations and rebirth into another planet and what not, but maybe his master could give him a complete answer now.


    [Arlom]: ¡°An Interplanetary idiot, helplessly ignorant about this place, I understand now, I have being too soft on you, you were not just a stupid, but the king of idiot¡¯s, but to think you where this stupid for other reasons and I did not took notice, sigh, I need to apology with you, it is not your own fault that you are so stupid¡±


    Arlom could only shake his head, this was worse than he has thought, well not really.


    With a DOM! Cyan was in the floor twisting his face in pain, the words his master just say was like a hard slap in the face, it was not his fault not to know anything at all but more than that.


    With his face aching in pain, he sit down again, this was not the time to get angry at Arlom, so Cyan did not waste his time saying things like ¡°DON CALL STUPID, YOU ARE THE STUPID, YOU ENTIRELY FAMILY IS STUPID¡±, but of course, his mind was burning with those exact words.


    Arlom nodded seeing Cyan was not replying back and was still focus in the conversation.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Will you leave me behind when we arrive at the seventh gate¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°If the Seventh gate can only take one person yes I will, I had already told you that at the doors they check for the medallion, this is done not by a person but by a statue, if there is a statue in the seventh gate and you don¡¯t pass the requirements you will not be able to escape, I can only train you until we reach them, and¡­. I can¡¯t beat those statues even if all the people in the forest would be there to help¡±


    That has happen a few times in the past, and it was always the same result, today there was not even a point in trying, unless you want to die, but there will be always those fools that think they are better than anyone else, that would gather a bunch of people and challenge the guards, the guards would receive them with open arms of course.


    Cyan was shock, there were not living persons are guard but living statues? And Arlom could not beat them? Then what was Cyan in front of those? And ant would not even compare. But more importantly.


    [Cyan]: ¡°How do you plan to find the seventh gate?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°You will take me there¡±


    Cyan almost hit the floor at match 1 speed this time, but he manage to get a hold of himself and stayed glued to the chair.


    [Cyan]: ¡°How¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I do not know, the same way I found you, I trust that you will find that place somehow¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Then if the statues are there, and the requirement is the medallion points then what¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I will think about it when the time comes, in the worst case we will have to fight them¡±.


    In Cyan mind he was flipping the table with every answer he got, ¡®is this a test? Do you think I am so stupid I can¡¯t understand anything?, what happen to the dependable Arlom he was looking up to, where did he go, I can¡¯t find him anymore.


    Arlom took notice of the face that Cyan was making, he need it Cyan to trust in him, at the end of the day.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I know there must be another way to escape this place, if I am unable to use one of the six gates then it means the seventh gate can be use with or without a medallion and my only lead to there is you¡±.


    ¡®And the thing that lead me to you...¡¯ Arlom was holding onto something in his hand but Cyan did not took notice of anything as he was thinking in other things right now.


    In first place the person known as Arlom was¡­ crazy.


    [Cyan]: ¡°But that¡¯s insane how many years do you have in here, how do you know that your medallion is not just broken and there is not fixing it¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°That, I do not know, called fate, destiny or hope, that keeps me going forward, I have spent 25 years, 9 month and 14 days inside this place already, I count each and every single day that had passed¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°What hope can you have left?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I though the same, until¡­ you arrived, in some ways you are my last hope Cyan, but I don¡¯t want to just use you to escape I want you to escape too, but I can¡¯t promise you away out, please forgive this weak old man¡±


    This time Arlom bow down to Cyan, maybe the past him would have force Cyan into helping him, that was known as his rampage era, that lasted 5 years, he learned that, after 5 years of countless kills, the counter in his medallion will not go down no matter how many points he gather, in was in this era that he had earned his hunter king tittle.


    Cyan let out sight, ¡®this old man is crazy, hope after so many years¡¯, Cyan could picture, 25 years of watching people like Serah going after your life, ¡®¡­ I just want to go home, being in here this is too much for me, but it is too late now, I am already here¡¯.


    Arlom was still bowing down to Cyan with his face over the table, this was him putting down his guard in front of Cyan, he need it Cyan more than anything else right now.


    He has learned that brute force was not everything in the world, he tried to save his wife with brute force only to fail, he tried to find his own son using brute force only to be thrown in here, he tried to escape this place using his strength only to be block at the exit by something he could not beat.


    He did not say it but, he has had a fight against the gigantic statue at the exit, escaping with his life after that fight, was proof that he was strong, worthy to be called one of the tree kings.


    Cyan could see the sincerity in Arlom Actions. ¡®What other options do I have stupid master, I am in the grasp of the people that put me in here, I can only move forward¡¯


    [Cyan]: ¡°I do not know where is this exit you talk about is but, if this place is as dangerous as you said it is, the truth is, I don¡¯t know anything at all and my only option is to get stronger, Master, if I can, no, Master, I will lead you to the seventh gate no matter what, this my way to pay you back for everything you have done for me so far¡±.


    Arlom was somewhat stunned, was not him bowing down to Cyan? Why was now Cyan bowing down to him?


    ¡®You stupid Master, why is there the need to earn my trust when you already have it?¡¯


    ¡®So it was like that after all¡¯ Arlom Could almost read Cyan nagging face that was not visible right now. ¡®So I am stupid too after all, sigh¡¯, a new light was in Arlom eyes.


    Arlom nodded his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Very well then, what other questions do you have, I can answer them all¡±


    It seems Arlom was in a good mood this time around.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Then master the color pills in the food, I am actually very hungry and I want to eat, but¡­. The poison from before¡­¡±


    It has being a while that they were talking and the food was already cold, Cyan did as he could to hold his stomach back that was like ¡®Poison? Let them come, I would handle that stupid poison so hurry up and eat I am dying over here¡¯


    Arlom nodded again.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Listen well you stupid child, the green pills are the only one with poison in it, there are 3 kind of poison pills, middle green, dark green and light green, each of them have a different effect, for example the one in the middle, well that one you already know what it does, it gives to pain to your whole body, but it do not touch your skin, it would be bad if you grow immune to pain in your whole body, actually resistance to pain would be enough of a skill to get, the light green will give you diarrhea for a whole day, that one is really nasty, actually don¡¯t eat that one, and the last the dark green is death aura, eat too many of those and nobody will save you, but you need to grow resistance against instant death spells so there no other option to eat one of those at month¡±


    Arlom was putting a solemn face, why there is a diarrhea pill and you just said ¡°don¡¯t eat that one¡± but eat the one with the death aura, are you joking with me, was that one just a prank, the respect and trust Cyan has put in Arlom has instantly vanish without a trace now.


    Arlom did not mind it and keep going his explication over the pill in the food.


    [Arlom]: ¡°The blue pill is to help you grown accustom to the mana in this world, the red pill is supplements you need in your body, that this food doesn¡¯t have, the yellow pill is to the remove the impurity¡¯s in your body, and help you reform your body, and the white pill is to help develop that stu¡­coughs, that brain of yours.


    ¡®You were going to say stupid just now don¡¯t you, you stupid master!!!!¡¯


    [Cyan]: ¡°To get accustom to the mana then you knew I was not from this world?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I did not knew that, it just that¡­ the mana around is in chaos, I thought you were doing stupid things with it, but I now understand¡­. you are sucking the mana around you, like¡­. If you were empty?¡±


    Arlom was inclining this head to the side, he has never before seen some with no mana in their body¡¯s, but to suck the mana around you making the mana go in chaos this was¡­ unprecedented.


    ¡®Whatever, common sense don¡¯t work with this stupid child anymore, it must be like this if we want to find a gate that can¡¯t be found¡¯.


    Was not this a forest full of hunters, a place were no secret could be hide for long? How can a door remain hidden then? The logic conclusion was that, there was not such a door, but there were always those fools that would try to find what nobody else has find before, not because they thought they were better than anyone else, but because, they don¡¯t have other anyway.


    Cyan could not help to ask, but he already knew the answer to his own questions.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master are you really telling to eat the poison and all the other pills but no this one right?¡±


    Arlom nodded his head, he did not need to say anything else, that last pill, well is was more like a joke to teach him if he failed to check the food again.


    With another sigh Cyan started to eat well more like devouring the food, it was already cold but still was delicious, Poison? His master has already said to him to eat it, it was for his own good, even if there was a prank pill in there, he could at least avoid that one, but the rest, if he guess was right, he need it to get stronger, a lot stronger in a very short time.


    Cyan could only watch the man in front of him, he must have like 50 years, his figure was like a sturdy tree, his face was a calm, and in his eyes shined with a bright like, like if there was a calm fire behind them, still burning, waiting for the time to escape this forest.


    This man was feeding him poison, of course Cyan could chose not to eat the poison, but he trusted this man, he did now why but the eyes of Arlom he could see his own reflection very clearly.


    After Cyan finished his food, Arlom guide him to the bathroom it was time for him to clean up, it was not long after he was tired to dead because of the previous training, it would be better to do things in reverse, but Cyan stomach was growing uncontrollable if it was not feed soon, so Arlom chose to make the food first.


    Cyan now took notice that in this cave there was actually a wooden house, and there was a bathroom where he could shower.


    After Cyan took a shower he found clean clothes outside and exited the house, he was death tired and he did not know if the pills will act up and prevent him for sleeping, but he just wanted to find a rock and sleep, his mental image of a bed has change so much, when he could only think of a rock as hid bed, his mind was filled with rocks by now.


    Letting a sigh he started to walk to his bed when he heard a voice calling him, this of course was his master.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan I prepared a room inside the house, it would be better if you sleep in here from now on¡±.


    Cyan eyes brighten up like start ¡®A proper bed, finally! This master of mine is not that bad after all¡¯


    Of course knowing how Arlom was, when he arrived to his new room, he found out that his ¡®new¡¯ bed, was made of rock, and not even a ¡®new¡¯ rock, it was the same exact room than the one he was using to sleep before, Arlom has just move them in here.


    Cyan would flip his bed if he could, but how can you flip a bed made of rocks, the wooden floor was better than this¡­ but he still laydown over the rock, he was too tired to argue with himself.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Whatever I don¡¯t even care¡±


    Cyan brain has stopped working by now, he just lay down in the bed and close his eyes instantly sending him into a deep sleep in record time, the 2th day in Planet Athem was over.

 Chapter 10: Mana

    Chapter 10: Mana


    Cyan was waking up groaning after sleeping exactly for 8 hours


    [Cyan]: ¡°I feel like if I was sleeping over a rock... right... I was¡±


    Cyan has forgotten for 0.1 seconds where he was, he could not know what time it was because, everything was dark, nevertheless something inside him knew the time very well. Cyan was still very tired because of the training of yesterday, he was feeling like he himself was a rock, incapable of moving even 1 cm on his own.


    But then, why did he wake up? The answer to that was very easy to guess, the best time tracking device on Cyan body, his stomach was nagging him to wake up, ¡®Hey wake up is breakfast time, hey hey are you listing to me, hey come on it is time¡¯ of course all that he could hear and feel was his hunger and his stomach growling.


    Cyan was sure that his stomach has gained awareness of his own and was nagging him, but that was just him using his over imaginative brain, there was no way that was the case, anyway, he was awake now and he was feeling hungry, ¡®may as well i eat something¡¯


    After standing up and doing some light exercises, Cyan could hear his now reliable Master outside his door.


    [Arlom]: ¡°The food is ready come on down to eat¡±


    There was not knot on the door or anything, Arlom knew that Cyan has just woken up with a perfect timing for breakfast, ¡äthat interplanetary idiot really have good skill to keep track of the time tsk¡ä.


    Arlom was ready to wake up him by using a ¡®gentle¡¯ tap on the shoulder of Cyan if he didn¡¯t had woken up, but, he was already doing some light exercises inside his bedroom?, Arlom was quite impressed by how Cyan body was keeping track of time even if Cyan himself was not aware of it.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master I will go down in minute¡±.


    Even if Cyan was very very hungry he still finished his morning exercises, his stiff body was killing him, so this was to make it less stiff, and there was also a hidden battle of power vs his own stomach but that something someone very stupid will think of, so of course Cyan skipped thinking about that, ¡®it someone else problem now¡¯, a known individual called the brain that is.


    Meanwhile his stomach was stomping his metaphoric foot while the brain was trying to calm his down but failing at the end ¡äfeed me feed me feed¡ä but Cyan ignored it for another minute until he just give up and went down the stairs, no one can beat the stomach even the lazy of people will stand up from their beds to get some food.


    A warm food over the table was waiting for him, Arlom was also sitting in front of the table, there were two chairs, it was the same table from yesterday, now he could see it for what it really was, a wooden table, small enough for two person to eat, well maybe this was one person too many in Arlom mind, but right now he doesn¡¯t have the time to make another one, there are no trees inside this cave after all.


    Cyan sit down in front of Arlom and without saying a word started dissecting his food, removing all the pills he could find, this time it only took him 5 minutes, after he finished, he could see the same pills for yesterday but luckily there was not the diarrhea pill this time around, but there was another pill, a light blue pill, Cyan could no help to ask about this new pill.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master the middle blue pill from yesterday was for helping me to control my mana, then this light blue pill what it is purpose?¡±


    Arlom nodded his head ¡®good¡¯.


    [Arlom]: ¡°After talking to you yesterday I made this pill, it will slow down the rate that you absorb mana from this world, helping your body to reduce the stress and allowing you to learn control over the mana, with less mana is easier to handle and you will obviously learn faster¡±.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Then when you will teach how to control the mana¡±.


    Cyan started to eat but his eyes were like starts, to control mana, using spells, becoming a wizard, putting aside everything else that could kill him, becoming a lighting mage was a man dream after all, casting lighting from his finger reducing everything to ashes, he could totally picture it.


    Arlom did not missed this but he still thought that someone that has such.... instable body... it was too soon.


    Arlom shook his head


    [Arlom]: ¡°It is too soon for you, your body need to adjust to this world mana first, and you are still absorbing a lot of mana, I don¡¯t know how long it would take for you to be¡­ normal, but, even if you do, learning about spells and what not, will not help you in the short term, you need to learn to dodge the rocks I thrown, until you dodged one hundred consecutives thrown I will not teach you anything, even if your body adjusted to the mana of this world¡±.


    Cyan was shock, one hundred cannon shots (they were just rock tough) and he cannot get hit even one? Let alone just one is impossible right now, but he still got something of Arlom answer, ''he will not teach me but youdid not say anything about learning from myself''. This of course was a crazy act, only a mad man would though that, but¡­


    Cyan nodded his head back with a serious face not getting angry at all


    Arlom in the other side of the table was calming eating his food, that last part was not something he forgot, after all he knew from day one, that this stupid child like to do things on his own, cutting his wings was not the answer, he only has to make sure that he do get burn with the sun, like that stupid guy with the¡­ paper wings? ¡®What idiot will make wings with paper, I will made your wings like mirrors that can even reflect the sun and burn your enemy¡¯s hahaha¡¯.


    An evil smile was formed in Arlom face, of course that was just a hypothetical smile. His face still remained the same as always, calm and serious.


    Cyan finished his food very fast and like other times, he could eat a lot more food and still not feel the weight of it in his stomach, nor that he was that full, ¡®did my stomach has become like a void now?¡¯.


    Cyan shook his head, Common sense? When you are in another world you can leave your common sense at the door.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master will I get the same pain I got yesterday from the poison? After I went to sleep I did not feel a thing even after I had eaten the pills¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Actually yesterday I reduced the doses just enough so you could sleep without being disturbed, go to the bathroom and wash away, I will meet you out side, here¡±.


    Extending his hand Arlom put a violet pill over the table, this was the same pill form yesterday, Cyan could only grit his teeth, he knew what was coming now, in a few minutes he would feel pain beyond the human threshold, but something was not right.


    ¡®Why has master given me the pill before the pain even started, no wait he say to go and wash my face before coming outside, if I take the pill now and then go the bathroom, if we go with the same patron from yesterday then¡­¡¯ Cyan face paled, if he eat the pill too soon, then that meant he would need to dodge the cannon shots, I mean rocks, while being in extreme pain, but if did not, then how could go to the bathroom with a calm mind.


    Cyan took the pill and started to run, time was the essence in here, ''when the pain start I will wait a little to eat the pill every second count''.


    10 minutes later, Arlom could see Cyan exiting the house and running over the target fromyesterday, this time the target was repaired and there was not a trace for the two rocks from yesterday.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, I am sorry for being late please let us begin asp¡±.


    Cyan was with a pale face, he had eaten the pill 5 minutes ago when the pain started to surged but this pain was another thing altogether, well let¡¯s just say it was the yellow potion acting up and not the green poison, Cyan has mistook it so he was now 5 minutes behind schedule.


    Arlom on the other hand did not say anything and started to thrown rocks once more, same as yesterday Cyan could not dodge them, and got hit over and over again.


    It was just the beginning of today but his body was so stiff that he got hit with one rock and even before he could react to the pain he would get hit with another one, actually Arlom was picking the pace for him, those extra 5 minutes where outside the schedule, so the new schedule need it to be adjusted with that in mind, but even so, ''he is too slow, today, I knew it, this is...''.


    Inside Cyan body.


    ¡®Stupid body what are you doing at least try to dodge something and don¡¯t stand there like dumb, and you stomach least you could had warned us about ''that'' ¡¯Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The brain of Cyan, was trying to handle those bag of weight that were the body and stomach.


    ¡®Shut up you stupid brain, do you think I am not doing my best, this is too much, something is interfering with me I can¡¯t concentrate¡¯


    Of course like yesterday the brain was trying to calculate the rock trajectories and timings, and was passing the information to the body but the body was not moving like yesterday at all.


    ¡®Something is definite different today¡¯ was the only thing the brain could think of, the body was not moving like yesterday, this was beyond his expectations.


    But the brain could not detect anything unusual with the body except his slow speed from today, the stomach onthe other hand was not caring at all of everything that was going on outside and was happily munching away the food from breakfast, the violet pill was everything he need to keep eating the food.


    The brain knew that if nothing change, Cyan would not last even 30 minutes today.


    Even yesterday, you can say that even if Cyan could not dodged the rocks at least they could avoidthose ¡°critical hits¡± and near the end they had almost perfected this, and they even managed to dodge one rock.


    But now, the brain could only give up and ask for help to his nemesis, the body was so slow today and Arlom was aiming better than yesterday, they were getting critical hits after critical hits


    The brain did the thing he hated the most, ask the stomach for help.


    ¡®You, st¡­ Stomach stop eating for a second, and help me keep to track of the timing of the rocks¡¯


    Admitting that the stomach was better that the brain to keep track of time? That was the same to admit he was more intelligent than the brain, what a stupid thought, the stomach has more brains that the brain itself, but, there no other way around it, the body was moving too slowly today and his movement were not fluid and stiff.


    Something must be done, and fast, those critical hits will knock out Cyan in a few minutes, but to the brain surprise the stomach reply was ¡ädun want to¡¯, even after he has admitted defeat to the stomach he stills refuses to help.


    The brain of Cyan almost burst of his Skull, if only he could, he would not remain not even a second more in this stupid body.


    ¡®If you not help right now, you will not get more tasty food and willstarved to death! You hear me!¡¯


    This was the brain final card, all or nothing.


    The stomach could only complain to the brain request, nevertheless he did try to help at the end.


    ¡®tsk, annoying, keeping track of the rocks? That is easy, here and don¡¯t bother me any more¡¯.


    ''Did you just ¡®tsk¡¯ me?'' The brain was flying in rage but the thing the stomach has given him was... ''This it is¡­ a cheat table''.


    All the timing of the rocks of yesterday were there, the timing of the flying paths, how much time they would fly and other minor details but more importantly there was a way to calculate it! Base on trajectory and some unknown patrons to the brain, it was so specific that the brain was wondering who was stomach and who was brain.


    Of course this table was made by the stomach because yesterday he was bored to dead, with no food to eat, and the only thing to keep him busy was to keep track of time and fight against the dormant poison.


    So he started to do some other things, like calculating the timing of the rocks, he just wanted to see if he could and nothing else,actually what the stomach enjoy the most after food was to keep track of time, after watching the rocks fly he started to count, the more he counted the more he started to notice patrons that repeated themselves, so he started to write them down, they he do some cross references with the annotations the brain has left all over the floor and, the cheat table was born, from a child¡¯s play.


    Maybe in the previous world the time keeping skills of the stomach were actually in a superpower level, but who would care? The brain never listened to him anyway and the body was just a subordinate of the brain, that would always allied with him, so the stomach did not have any power in the decision making of¡­. when to eat, he could only say ''it is time to eat'', at leave the rest to the body and the brain.


    The body rebelling against the brain? That was a first, but to that brain asking for his help?This was too sweet, for some reason the food tasted even better now, he was enjoying the moment.The brain has neverlistened to him before, he only wanted to make the moment last longer, surly there would not be a next time.


    The brain forgot about the stomach for now, ¡®I will deal with you later huh¡¯ and started to use the cheat code, I mean the holy table of timings.


    ¡®Body move to the right in 0.0001 sec¡¯


    ¡®What are you up you stupid brain that would put us in the path of those cannon shots¡¯ (they are just rocks you know).


    ¡®Shup it and do as I say and they are just rocks¡¯ (thank you)


    The body was reaching his limit so what other choice do he had? The body reply was in an instant


    ¡®Ah whatever I will do it just this time¡¯.


    The body moved as it was told, even if he was not as good as the brain to keep track of time he could predicted the path, as soon he stood there, he was hit by the rock like he was expecting but¡­ it was not a ¡®critical hit¡¯ it did not hurt that badly, the body took notice of this.


    ¡®So there is this way too huh¡¯.


    Not very far away Arlom nodded his head, he notice it in the same instant, Cyan body haslearned something new, and Cyan himself was learning very fast, yesterday he had done the same but this was out of reflect, the body was not aware of it, but now... it was.


    [Arlom]: "If you can¡¯t avoid the rocks,at least learn how to get hit"


    Those where the only words of Arlom, a new path has open to Cyan now... the M path.


    Back inside of Cyan, ¡®oh so you were a M after all ah you stupid body¡¯ the body almost jump in rage ¡®whom is the M you S brain, we keep getting hit because of you, you better learn how to keep track of time properly, to think the stomach can match and even do a better job at it, that¡¯s too funny hey brain who is the stupid brain and who is the stomach, you know when they say you have a brain in your stomach I understand it now,hahaha I can¡¯t stop laughing¡¯.


    Of course the stomach joined to the party too ¡®what is it this, it cannot be that the brain can¡¯t keep the track of time onsome cheap rocks without the help of the brain in the stomach, who could have thought this, not me, I am not the smart and intelligent brain, that it is always saying that he is so smart, I am just the stupid stomach that only knows how to eat hahahahahah¡¯.


    The brain was reaching his limit, only 30 minutes of the 3th day has passed, and the brain already wanted to fly away from the skull of Cyan 2 times in a row, of course because the body of Cyan was actually one this thought was ''share'' between everyone making the laughter of the body and the stomach even stronger.


    Letting a mental sigh, weirdly enough after some time the brain started to laugh too, he could see it, the stomach was better at keeping track of time, it was very funny, and the body was better moving the body and predicting the path, soon their laughter change from mocking the brain to that of 3 friends sharing a cold beer in the night after a day of work (it is only has being 30 minutes though).


    ¡®Did you guys picture if I actually flyaway from Cyan skull, what do you think the stupid face of Cyan would be hahahahah¡¯, the laughter was just growing stronger now, but something strange happen this time.


    ¡®hahahaha¡¯


    ¡®¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡¯ everyone


    ¡®Hey body just now, that was you right body?¡¯ the brain asked the body but the body shook his metaphoric head,


    ¡®it was not me, and that was¡­. totally a woman voice, so it can¡¯t be the stomach either¡¯.


    ¡®it was not me, brain are you putting a pranks on us like you always do as revenge?¡¯.


    With chuckle the voice was hear again


    ¡®you guys are silly, to think you guys did not took notice of me until now, nice to me you all of you, my name, well most people call me Mana, you guys can call me like that too, this body is so funny I like in here¡¯


    Everyone has gone in silence in an instant.


    The stupid face of the brain, the body and the stomach were making when they hear that could make it to the cover of a joke magazine, soon after it, it was the body that could recover first.


    ¡®IT WAS YOUUUUUUUU, I can¡¯t moved like yesterday because of youuuuuuu¡¯ the body was flipping imaginary tables right now.


    ¡®tehee opps I was found out¡¯ putting his tonged out in a cutely fashion Mana was chuckling at this silly body, she was in everyone and everywhere, but this was the first time she was in such a body were she could actually move of her own, the fact she could talk was already something for her to be happy about, seeing everybody reacting to her presence, how could she not be happy, it was something that had never happen before.


    In general when she enter a body she would not have personality or ego and would act as the person she was in guided her to do like a mindless puppet, but in here, everything was different, in here, she could act and do as she pleased, but adjusting to this body was essentially very chaotic.


    At the beginning she did not have any will, a mind without ego, it was the same as a robot that only knew how to follow orders and not think on their own, if asked she will reply, if ordered she would move, this was like she was supposed to be, spells invocations and chants were only short cuts commands for her to follow, they were already programmed into her, that was it, if the commands was said wrongly then she would not know to move, or would move wrongly causing unexpected result, but it has nothing to do with her after all.


    But she started to listening the voices of Cyan body and then she realized what she was missing a will, outside this body it was very different, outside she was neutral without any will, as soon as she realized this, she started to pour as much of ¡®her¡¯ inside this body as the body would allow without hurting it, it was actually quite amazing how much mana this body could hold in fact.


    She did not had any plans to take over this body or hurting it, and it was fun in here, but the body, the principal medium has not founded about her yet, so she remained in silent and just tried to listen to their silly chat hoping to be notice soon, but she could not contain her laughter anymore and that¡¯s how they now took notice of her, or maybe it was intentional who knows.


    ¡®This is getting more and more¡­. sigh¡¯ PAH! Another rock had just hit Cyan face.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Hey Stupid child what are you dreaming about! wake up¡±.


    With that rock the brain started to work again ¡®Mana, that¡¯s your name right? Will you follow my commands and help the body to dodge those annoying rock?¡¯ there was no time to question is this ¡®mana¡¯ was good or bad, he can¡¯t expel what he do not understand, for now, it was an alien entity, but if she could be of any help to them was not this better?, the brain understood they need it mana in this world.


    ¡®aye aye Captain¡¯ the reply has come with a very energetic voice and a cute intonation,doing a salute as she grabbed the metaphoric hand of the body as she started to help to move the body, ¡®t-thanks¡¯ the body was red as an apple. the brain keep issuing commands, ¡®Ok everyone now we are going forreal get ready¡¯, this serious and harmonist mood¡­ only lasted for some minutes.


    ¡®What are you doing you stupid body, dodged that, stomach stop eating that, that stupid master has changed the patron and the formula doesn¡¯t work anymore, give me another cheat code I mean timing table¡¯.


    ¡®I am doing my best you stupid brain! mana¡­ can you¡­ released my hand, I can¡¯t.. concentrated¡¯, mana pinched her cheeks ¡®but if we don¡¯t hold hands at least for now, we will not sync, and then when we have to k¡­i¡­ and then this¡­ and that¡­.¡¯ this time the voice of mana grew smaller and smaller and her metaphoric cheeks grew redder and redder until the body could not hear her anymore, the stomach on the other hand reply back with ¡®annoying I am busy¡¯, it was eating the food from the breakfast and did not wanted to get disturbed.


    The brain could only keep trying his best. With a sigh he could only mutter ¡®I am sorry Cyan today will be an even more painful day¡¯.

 Chapter 11: Hold my hand

    Chapter 11: Hold my hand


    [Unknown]: ¡°Enough!¡±


    The insides of Cyan that were in utter and total chaos were now in total silence. It was time for the brain to regain control and impose order again, the chaoshas come too far.


    [Brain]: ¡°Mana stop chasing the Body around, Stomach stop et...no, you can keep eating but help me with the timing of the rocks, Body stop running around like a crazy person and stop rejecting Mana¡±.


    The brain instinctively knew they need it Mana to ''function'' after all.


    [Body]: ¡°But she keeps hugging me like a 3 year old, I can¡¯t move the way I want with her around, she needs to go¡±.


    [Brain]: ¡°I don¡¯t care, Mana is here to stay, whether you like it or not you need to learn to live with her, we all do need to learn to live with her around¡±.


    While Brain was trying to grain control again, Mana was¡­ walking in the direction of the Stomach.


    [Mana]: ¡°Hi there big fellow, what are you doing¡±


    [Stomach]: ¡°munching munching munching¡± sound effect*


    [Mana]: ¡°hum you hungry?¡±


    [Stomach]: ¡°munching munching munching¡±sound effect*


    Mana did not seen to have any bad intentions so Stomach nodded, he wasstill too busy munching the food away like a squirrel.


    [Mana]: ¡°You know, I can make the food even tastier, do you want to know how?¡±


    ¡®Make the food even tastier?¡¯ the metaphoric eyes of Stomach light up like stars, this time he nodded again very vigorously.


    [Mana]: ¡°Uhmm actually it will hard to explain, so I will just show it to you¡± Mana nodded.


    Mana was thinking very profusely, not that she could actually think too deeply about it, it has not being too long from the time thatshe had woken up her awareness, actually, she in fact did not have much wisdom, she just was acting on instincts alone, how could she explain to this big fellow what her instincts weretelling her? She was thinking ¡ävery deeply¡¯ for a good 5 seconds before giving up and made the choice to just to do it.


    So closing her eyes, Mana she started to focus in moving the mana around her, this mana was her but at the same time it was not her, it was the same as the water in the body, it was part of the body, it made the body, but drinking it, it was not called cannibalism, she was made of mana but she was not 100% mana? It was very hard to explain to herself, not that she care about itanyway.


    Stomach stopped eating and was eagerly watching Mana movethatblue substance around her, the Stomach was too focus eating a while before, so he did not know anything about the outside world or what was that blue substance was, but now that he looked aroundthat blue substance was everywhere, like Mana he only moved on instincts and intuition.


    The stomach only care about good food and the time to eat, he justleft everything else to the brain, to carry all that weight of thinking, he hated to admit it, but the brain was very good for that particularly task, but that was not very important right now.


    ¡®She said there a way to make the food tastier? Maybe it has something to do with that blue substance, I want to see it¡¯


    Mana started to pour all that blue substance into the food mixing with it, after some time she open her eyes again, putting a triumphant pose she started to speak again.


    [Mana]: ¡°I am done big fellow, go on, give it a try, I guaranteed it, the taste is 2 times, no 5 times better than before, huff huff¡±.


    Stomach did not lose any more time, he started munching away the¡®new¡¯ food, and indeed the it taste was at least 2 times, no 5 times better than before, from his point of view this girl was his new idol.


    But soon after the eyes of Stomach started to get watery, and then he started to cry all of the sudden.


    Meanwhile the brain and the body that were in a very very heated fight in an imaginary ring of their own, they were choosing whom will take care of Mana, I mean they were fighting to see whom will be the responsible to handle Mana from now on, the body did not wanted anything to do with her at this point.


    [Brain]: ¡°Scissors cut paper you lose again, this is the fifth time already, give up, you will handle Mana from now on¡±.


    [Body]: ¡°That¡¯s not fair I want a rematch the winner takes it all¡±.


    [Brain]: ¡°Very well, let¡¯s play another round, if you lose, you will take care of her¡±.


    [Body]: ¡°Yes! wait You think I am dumb!, let¡¯s play another game!¡±.


    Just as they were about to play I mean fight for ¡®real¡¯ this time, they heard the Stomach crying, looking round they could see Mana at his side trying to calm him down.


    The brain and the body focused their attention to that place now.


    [Brain]: ¡°MANA what did you do! body help to calm Stomach down¡±


    Mana was panicking, she was just making the food tastier, but this big fellow started to cry all of the sudden after eating a little of the food, she did not know what she do wrong.


    [Mana]: ¡°I did nothing wrong, I just mixed the food with some of my mana, the food should just taste better, but he started crying all of the sudden¡±.


    With a panicked expression Mana tried to explain the events and what she did but...


    [Brain]: ¡°You did what? You messed out with his food? You don¡¯t know that you can¡¯t mess with his food! come on big fellow, I am here, calm down a little¡±.


    Calming down a little, the Stomach finally stopped crying.


    [Body]: ¡°That is big fellow, tell to big bro, what this crazy woman did to your food¡±.


    [Mana]: ¡°Hey! That was uncalled for¡±.


    The body did not pay any attention to this crazy woman that has chased him around and has messed out with the food of the stomach.


    The Stomach shook his metaphoric head.


    [Stomach]: ¡°sniff sniff, she did nothing wrong, the food indeed taste is even better now, it is just¡­ sniff sniff¡­.¡±


    [Body and Brain]: ¡°just?¡± they were in perfect sync when they said that.


    [Stomach]: ¡°it was like¡­. home¡±.


    The body and the brain were muted


    [Stomach]: "I am sorry for scaring you little miss, and i thank you for the food"


    While the Stomach was expressing his thanks to Mana, the body and the brain were....


    [Brain]: ¡°it was¡±


    [Body]: ¡°like home¡±


    They looked each other, and then the food, before both of them picking a piece, nodding, they too took a bite, after that like the Stomach before, their eyes light up like stars, but soon after¡­ they started crying, making the Stomach cry again...


    Now the body, the stomach and the brain, where crying like little babies, it has being only 3 days in this place, the taste of food, home, they remember clearly, it was not too long ago from whenthey were transported to this place, they were under a great pressure, and to eat something that taste it like home, it was¡­


    Now the three of them where surrounding Mana and hugging her while crying.


    Mana was of course shocked, she just was talking with this big fellow and he started to cry then the other two came and then they too were crying like babies under her and hugging her.


    With a mental sight, Mana did not understood anything at all but, she could understand that they were happy to have her, and that¡¯s all that she care about.


    [Mana]: ¡°You silly guys, there there, I will make betterfood for everyone¡±.


    [Body]: ¡°sniff sniff you will? Even after I wanted to expel you?¡±


    Mana nodded his head with all forgiving face.


    [Body]: ¡°Even after I called you crazy woman?¡±


    Mana nodded her head againThe author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    [Body]: ¡°Even after I wanted to kick you in the back when you were not looking?¡±


    A bulging vein was formed in the metaphoric head of Mana, but she soon calm down again


    [Mana]: ¡°That¡¯s all in the past now, let¡¯s all get along yes?¡±


    She said thatwhile having a blinding smile.


    The Body and the Brain looked each other before they reached a non-verbal agreement, the soon nodded each other and step out to the imaginary ring again, but this time¡­


    [Body]: ¡°This time I will lose for sure get ready brain the biggest loser will show you his skills¡±.


    [Brain]: ¡°I would feel bad if I won every match I think it is time for you to win¡±.


    [Body]: ¡°Don¡¯t be so ridiculous, how could i beat you, the great brain, you are smarter that everyone else in here, there is no way for me to win, I should just give up and declare you the winner there is not point for this match when we already know the results.¡±


    Meanwhile in the grades of the imaginary stadium, Mana and Stomach were just enjoying the show while eating imaginary popcorns.


    [Mana]: ¡°You can do it Body you can beat the brain don¡¯t give up just yet¡±


    [Stomach]: ¡°munching munching munching¡±


    Body realized that Mana was watching over him did not wanted to lose in front of her but at the same time he wanted to lose even more, he was truly¡­ stupid.


    Brain on the other hand was just playing with him, he did not really wanted to handle Mana, he has already a big load, and body was the ultimate medium between mana and Cyan, it was the medium that mana interacted the most, of course, he is the one that should handle her, but it was fun messing round with him anyway, inside the brain he was just laughing at the body, ¡®truly a stupid a body, but whatever is more fun this way¡¯


    In the match, Brain has pulled paper that turned into a rock mid-way, winning the match with a paper thin margin, actually the body was very fast but very dumb, the brain could predict each and every throw that the body would make, he just taunted the body pulling paper making him look that he would pull paper only to crush the scissors that the body will pull with a rock.


    At this point the body was so afraid of rocks that not even once did he pull rocks, the brain has seen this, and now it was just a child play, but if he messed up too much with the body, he will realized that, so this was the time to end it.


    After losing the match the body was happy at the time he was sad, he wanted to look ¡®cool¡¯ in front of Mana, but he wanted to lose so he could be the responsible for mana and they could hang out together, again it was he truly stupid, if only the body could develop a better brain, but that was asking for a miracle.


    Mana rushed to the defeated Body, she actually did not know this was a match for ¡®her¡¯ and only though they were just playing around and was having fun watching them play around.


    [Mana]: ¡°You did your best! Body, come teach how to play too I want to learn¡±.


    The body was secretly happy to have lost against the brain, but jus this time, next time he will win for sure.


    The body nodded his metaphoric head, extending his hand to Mana.


    [Body]: ¡°If you are ok with me, I will teach you¡±


    Mana grabbed a hold of the body hand not wanting to let that hand go, she did know not what it was, but her instincts were telling her not to let that hand go, no matter what.


    the body stopped feeling so stiff, holding on to Mana hand, he could move freely again, no, it was easier now, Mana was helping him to move Cyan ¡®body¡¯, he could move now faster than before supporting himself with mana, after he started to believing inMana, she was now tanking a great load for herself.


    The bodynow free from the shackles that was the mana from outside could move like yesterday again, before it was like moving in a pool of jelly, but now, now it was like air, he was so light, he felt he could fly right now, actually holding hands with Mana, he felt like flying actually.


    Outside Cyan Body


    Arlom was shocked, the changes in Cyan were so fast and strange, in one moment he would move like a well oil machine, then he would go back to be a interplanetary idiot, in the next instant he was getting hit even worse than before like he was wanting to be hit more, then he would be angry and then happy just to start crying like a baby, then he would make a happy face again, but the bigger and stranger change has come after all that.


    The mana that was in utter and total chaos around Cyan¡­ has stopped acting up like crazy and has now being to move in sync with Cyan himself, he has stopped absorbing the mana around him like sponge and was now in control of it, or that how it looked to him, nevertheless Cyan movements where getting faster and faster, and the rate of improvement was too breath taking, it was beyond amazing, Arlom was tempted to call it at monster rate, it stopped being amazing and had started to become at scary rate, Arlom was getting scared right now, he was scare of this stupid child but at the same time he was¡­ worry, how could he not be.


    ¡®It would not be long now, until¡­.¡¯ Arlom was thinking that but he was interrupted by a sound, a rock hitting the wall behind Cyan, this time it was Cyan own achievement, only 1 hour after the 3th day and Cyan has avoid the first rock, then after 10 more minutes or so, another PAH! Another rock was avoided, and the rate keep increasing from 1 of every 10, to 2 rocks every 10, then 3, until he reached 5 rocks of every 10.


    Cyan did not care at all about that, he did not stopped moving, Arlom was still throwing rocks at him at an incrassating speed, it would not be long before he reach that speed of yesterday, but Cyan was not afraid, he could feel it, inside him something was very very different.


    ¡®So this is it mana, it is like it has always being there from the beginning¡¯.


    Arlom was keeping the same rate than before, even if Cyan was avoiding some rocks he still was getting hit even if the rate of improvement was getting¡­ even more scary, Arlom was not that cheap too increase the rate every time Cyan avoid a rock¡­. by too much, for now ¡®lets him enjoy this victory¡¯.


    1 hour ago


    When he stood in front of the target he could feel his body so heavy, like if he was in a pool of jelly, this was not like him of yesterday, even if his body was aching in pain, yesterday there was only air that surrounded him.


    ¡®Why I feel like I am in a pool of jelly, I can¡¯t move like yesterday at all¡¯


    Cyan was getting afraid, the rocks were hitting him harder than before, even more painfully than yesterday, if this go on, it would not be too long before he gets knock out, after avoiding one rock at the end of the training of yesterday, he was getting his hope up to improve also today, just to wake out the next day and preform this badly.


    ¡®I need to do something fast¡¯.


    With a flash a new idea has come to his mind, ¡®that is it¡¯, from thin air the path of the rock was clear to him, even if his body was not moving like he wanted to, he could learn how to get hit for now, but soon this proved to be ineffective too.


    Arlom has catch out to his plan and was now constantly changing the path and timing of the rock with every rock, the rate of rocks was the same but in average, now he could see two rocks flying at the same time, he could not predict when the next rock was coming now.


    ¡®Dam he notice it too soon, if only I could move like yesterday¡¯


    Cyan wanted to go berserker to get out from this jelly that was making him furious, he got angrier and angrier and start to hurt his own body with stupid moves, but then he remember it


    ¡®Wait, why I am so angry for?¡¯ he could remember it, only a stupid would become angry to something of this level, he remember it when his Master was making fun of him, making him angry on purpose calling him stupid over and over again.


    ¡®Sigh it is just like that time¡¯.


    Cyan stopped getting angry, there was not point anyway, he was just hurting himself doing that, because he started to remember he did not stopped at just that and moved on to remember the ¡®distant¡¯ past.


    He remembered his home, his close friends, the things he has left behind, it was the first day of class that he was going to be reunited with his close friends, he was very happy about that, the jokes they make together and inside that group was also the girl he really like, they were good friends and Cyan was hoping that this year...


    He did not wanted to remember all that, his situation was to illogical to embrace it, whom would want to embrace a world that you were thrown into without asking you first if you wanted to go or not, even worse, in a dark forest where people kill each other and he only counted as points to someone else, were he would be poisoned each and every day.


    Cyan was back to getting angry to the world itself, to the one that has brought him here, he was now rejecting the world itself, and¡­ the world was rejecting this stupid kid back.


    ¡®Sigh, it has become even more heavy now, this dam world, let me go, I have it enough already¡¯


    The more Cyan wanted to be free from this world the more ¡®pressure¡¯ he felt.


    Arlom could see the mana around Cyan in total chaos, it was getting crazy dangerous now, but it would be worse to stop now, he could only keep going forward now.


    Meanwhile Cyan keep pondering in his mind.


    ¡®Why why I can¡¯t move like I want, why I can¡¯t move like before why I am shackled to this world¡¯


    Cyan was despairing now, he could not get the answers he need it or wanted to get.


    Then a voice was hear that brought him back to reality.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan I have being thinking about you original world, but, something doesn¡¯t seem right, it is really true that your world truly doesn¡¯t have any mana in it?, if that is true¡­ then how is your body absorbing it like it was suffocating before, but now it could catch his breath again, how can your body know thirst when he doesn¡¯t know water Cyan?¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°What crazy thing are you saying Master of course there is no mana in the atmosphere there is only air¡±?


    ¡®What a stupid line to say, sigh¡¯


    [Arlom]: ¡°Are you sure? Are you not mistaking air with another thing that is similar, you said yourself before, you world knows about mana from books right? Even if they were books, mana exists in this world and have the same name as your world, then how can your world not have any mana to being with?¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°That¡¯s im¡­.¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Impossible? Then Let me show you something impossible¡±


    With a move of his hand the rock has become now a fire ball and they were raining all over Cyan now.


    ¡®This is¡­ a magic spell, I did not wanted to believe it but, I¡¯


    Cyan stopped his troughs there, there were was not point in continuing with it, he has to accepted it now, even if, if it was against his own will that he arrived here, even if this was a crazy world, and he just wanted to go back home to¡­


    This was a world full of possibility¡¯s the impossible possible, why he should stop himself for moving forward just because some minor details, no, the best way to go back was to go forward.


    ¡®Now, I am too thinking in stupid lines, sigh¡¯


    Like his master Cyan was also thinking nonsenses.


    ¡®If my body doesn¡¯t know water then how it feels thirst¡¯


    Cyan repeated that line over and over again it was a silly line but, he started to ¡®breath¡¯ for the first time, for some reason the memories from his past keep coming back to him.


    ¡®The air in here¡­ it is the same like¡­ home, I¡­ remember it now¡¯


    It was like he had forgotten and now he remember, how could he forgotten after only 3 day¡¯s?, but the air in this world was the same, even if just was a tiny bit like back home, after years of ¡®tasting¡¯ it, how could he forget it.


    Cyan started to cry all of the sudden, all the memories he has left behind and did not wanted to remember, he was not even allow to say goodbye to his mon, his sisters and his friends, he was dragged in here, his eyes has become blurry, all the tears that he was holding back were now pouring out of Cyan eyes, but now he was free, embracing this new world for the first time he was free.


    His body started to act like he wanted it, he started to move faster and faster, better and better, free from the pool of jelly.


    Soon enough the mana that was constricting him was now helping him to move too, in only one hour and 10 minutes Cyan has passed from a sloth to a dodging machine.


    Yesterday his body has not absorbed enough mana to block his movements but after a day, Mana took awareness of herself and started to pour mana inside Cyan body in huge amounts


    Cyan body felt an instinctive wish to hold mana but Cyan was blocking it the body to absorb it fully, it was actually thanks to the stomach that he could remember what he has forgotten, that¡¯s all he need it.


    All of this has come to happen thanks to the stomach or maybe it was bound to happen anyway, maybe sooner if Cyan memories were not¡­, nevertheless this rate was too fast even Arlom.


    After two more hours of dodging increasingly speeding rocks Cyan was stuck in avoiding every 5 of 10 rocks, actually the rocks had finished before the scheduled, now Arlom would search for more.


    [Arlom]: ¡°What a troublesome child¡±


    Even his Arlom said that, his eyes where sparkling, Cyan was after all his only and last hope, he knew now that he had not make the wrong the decision, but of course he knew it from the begging, his instincts has told him that.

 Chapter 12: The heart

    Chapter 12: The heart


    Cyan was very tired, but very happy of his own achievements, he could feel the mana around him now, even more he could control it at will, it was a very weird feeling, he thought that from the very beginning the mana was there, how did he not notice it before, it was a part of him, he did not know how to explain it, it was like passing from watching black and white TV to a color TV, the colors where always there it is just that the TV was incapable of showing it.


    Actually since Cyan has arrived to the world of Athem, the colors were fading away, little by little, but inside a dark Cave with poor illumination he did not notice it until now.


    Now, every color was plastered in his vision, even inside the cave it was clear as day, everything was clear now, it was more than only his vision, it was the same as Arlom has told him.


    ¡äif you don¡¯t know that there are colors, how can you miss then?¡¯ it sounded like some cheese lines you would read over the internet.


    Cyan let out another mental sigh, what ¡®I am lacking?¡¯ How can he knows that? Should not his master tell him that?


    By this point, his mind was just going in circles so he just stopped thinking about it, he got no answers to those questions right now, but he will keep asking himself until he get the answers he need it, but right now he just wanted to rest.


    Arlom was looking over Cyan that was in the floor right now.


    ¡®He is not dead right? No, he manage to avoid a lot of rocks this time¡¯.


    Arlom was thinking what will be the next step now, he thought that Cyan would take a whole week to reach a stage where he can avoid at least two consecutive rocks, but now those expectations were blown out by the window, because the mountain of rocks that was at the side of Arlom at the beginning was now empty.


    The training for the morning has suddenly come to a stop early than expected, even before the poison inside Cyan body has the chance to take effect, and actually Arlom was running out of rocks mid-way so he started to thrown fire balls into the mix too.


    Cyan has avoid them beautifully, and only got hit with mostly rocks, even if he got hit with those fire balls they were very weak, it was more a light show to scared him than anything else, but near the end he was avoiding almost half the throws.


    Cyan has now broken the shackles that were restraining him, no, he has overcome them, but the end result was¡­ scary.


    When Arlom run out of rocks he stopped, even if it was a little early, Cyan was near his limit anyway, Cyan body was on the ground as soon Arlom stopped throwing rocks at him.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Not bad, let¡¯s end the morning training for now, go and take a shower, I will go out and hunt something tasty for the lunch¡±.


    Arlom was smiling obviously very pleased now.


    Cyan was unable to stand up but he still wanted to say something to Arlom.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master i¡­ mana, I understand it now, it was always there, even in my previous world there was mana too, but¡­ I could not feel it before even if it was there, no I have forgotten about it too¡±


    Cyan breath was very raged but he still managed to say what he wanted.


    Arlom nodded his head


    Actually Arlom has deduce that Cyan planet must have mana for other reasons beyond him absorbing it like an sponge, that could be explained in other ways, maybe he has mutated after arriving here, maybe the one that has transported him here molded his a new body to allocated the mana, but in that case, it would be just to hold more mana, if there is not recipient from the beginning, then you need to be a god to create it.


    It would be too much of a hassle to do what no human could do, and even so, why a god will bother to put such big recipient inside a human, Arlom could not dream to follow the thoughts of a god, but, the universe itself moves with logic, pros and cons, gain and lost, it was very linear and¡­ quite predictable


    After you thought about it, even the gods must move like this too, because if they are truly omnipotent and omniscient, then how the gods let¡­ his wife die in the end.


    The logic answer was that, Cyan was chosen from the beginning because how much mana he could hold, Arlom did not ruled out other impossibilities too, but those chances are too low.


    But thinking like that was actually quite contradictory, if there is an impossibility then, that means that there a being outside the laws, logic or reason right?, but so far he has not found a trace of it, even in this hell with no apparent rules, logic ruled over everything, like the law of gravity, not even the gods can escape that, even the crazed of monsters would follow some invisible guide like the law of chaos.


    If you could find the laws then you can predict ahead, but maybe it was wrong from the beginning to try and find a being of impossibility by following logic and reason.


    And the law that ruled the universe the most was the law of mana.


    After 25 years of being inside the Deathmatch Forest, and with no one to talk to, Arlom was force to make his own answers, his own predictions, to stay alive brute force was never enough, and the best proof that he was right, is that, he was still alive, as out now, Arlom was the holder of another title apart from being a king, he was the longest living king.


    And the only one that could theorized things like impossibilities, that mind of his, was something he earned after so many years of struggles and suffering, it allowed him to reach the conclusion that, there must be another gate, another exit, it has allowed him to find the key for the gate, what it was to find Cyan, the only thing left will be how to open it, the other gates need it the medallion, but what about the seventh gate? He did not have the answer for that... yet, he just need it to find it first, his answers will be arrive then too.


    If only he could use that brain of his in his youth days, when his wife was alive, he would not have so many regrets, but that has made him wiser, and this was biggest reason why he keep calling Cyan stupid, ¡®grow that stupid brain of yours before your muscles stupid child¡¯.


    [Arlom]: ¡°As I guessed, let me tell you something Cyan, mana is the law of the universe, how there can be a planet with no mana? If there is such planet then¡­ how is that you arrived here?¡±


    This last sentence was an answer and also a question for Cyan.


    ¡®Be smart boy, don¡¯t be dumb like me, and use that brain of yours at one hundred, no, at one thousand percentage to get the answers you need¡¯


    Cyan was shocked now, he wanted to stop and think really hard, how did he arrived to this planet, he did not had any clues before, he arrived here after feeling a sick and going to sleep, maybe someone from this world has summoned him here, or some intricate plot like that, but that did not answered why he could use mana, and so freely on top of that, he knew mana and mana knew him, he has realized this now, this was long before he arrived to this planet too.


    The true answer must be even simpler, more elemental, how did he ended in another planet altogether?


    ¡®To transport someone from place A to place B, there must a medium, a road, and something to take you there, be a car or your own legs, if we say the road was constructed by someone or even a natural occurring phenomenon then¡­ no, wait how I can differentiated between the road and the car, if the road is made of mana, or it is the car¡­ what if both are?, what if both are one and the same, then if I moved using my own legs¡­ I am not? The road and the car? ¡®.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Maybe Cyan did have a jump on logic there, he was literally calling himself mana, but what he meant was he was part mana and mana was a part of him.


    Cyan closed his eyes, and started to ¡®communicating¡¯ with the mana around him, if mana was the law of the universe, then the answers must be in there right?, this was the same as cheating in a test, it was the same like asking someone at the side for the answers, but¡­ not just any body would or could do just that.


    Arlom watched over Cyan for few more minutes, Cyan was now¡­


    ¡®Talking? No he is not quite there yet but, he is trying to talk with the mana around and inside him¡¯


    Is this for real? That took him years and years of practice just to notice that he could talk with the mana around him not to mention the one inside him, mana was not as simple as it looks, it was not just a mindless puppet that served anyone.


    Actually much of his answers were coming from the mana around him, Arlom was a cheater too, and ¡®sue me¡¯ is the thing he would reply if someone were to ask him about that.


    ¡®But if I am a cheater, then what about Cyan? With only 3 days in this planet, he should be called the King of Cheaters, no God of Cheaters, hahahah, Good¡¯


    Arlom nodded his head.


    Turning around he exited the cave with an actual smile in his face, leaving behind a dark violet pill at the side of Cyan for the poison inside his body, this one will neutralized all the poison and not half way like the others, the training regimen will change from now on, it would become harder this was just a little reward for today.


    ¡®It seems that I will have to teach him how to use mana before the scheduled, I can¡¯t wait to see how you will impress me next this time Cyan¡¯


    Back inside Cyan body


    [Brain]: ¡°sigh that was hard but we made it, good work every one you can all rest now, especially you Mana, we couldn¡¯t handle so well without you, we will be in your care for now on¡±


    Mana was blushing away with triumphant pose and a smile that said ¡®praise, praise me more¡¯


    [Mana]: ¡°It was nothing¡±.


    Mana was waving his hand making signals for the brain not to make a big deal of it, but at the same time, that she still like it the compliments a lot, so keep them coming.


    [Body]: ¡°Mana I am so sorry, I behaved like an idiot before, please forgive¡±


    Body was bowing down in front of mana. Now that everything was over and Cyan was ¡®sleeping¡¯, the body could now apology properly with Mana for being such a dumbass before.


    [Mana]: ¡°heyyaaa!¡±


    Mana answered the body apologies with, a judo chop, but actually it did not have any strength behind it what so ever.


    [Mana]: ¡°What are you apologizing for? Are we not friends now? Friends forgive other friends for being idiots, if you want to give me something, you can say just thanks¡±


    [Body]: ¡°I understand, thank you very much Mana, I could not have avoided all those rocks without you, please I am counting with you for the future¡±


    When the body finished his bow he could see the metaphoric face of Mana in front of him, with her eyes close, and it was actually awfully close, so close that they could actually¡­. K¡­ii.


    Immediately the metaphoric face of body was red like a tomato, this was a new level of red, even redder than an apple. The body lost control over his legs and staggered falling over his butt.


    [Body]: ¡°Wh-what are you doing¡±.


    [Mana]: ¡°Tsk, nothing nothing, hey what is that¡±.


    The body turned his metaphoric head around to where Mana was point at, only to see the brain trying to hold back his laughter only to fail miserly at that¡±


    [Brain]: ¡°HAHAHAHAHA you should take a look to your face right now¡±


    [Body]: ¡°Yoooouuuuu¡±.


    The body was making a metaphoric fist with his metaphoric hand, ok everything in here is metaphoric, and it is inside Cyan after all.


    Turing his head around to Mana she has¡­. disappeared


    [Brain]: ¡°You stupid body, you let her get away, fast go and find her¡±


    Mana was running away from the body now, she was a little shameful for trying something out and fail, and she didn¡¯t wanted to explain herself, so she ran away.


    The body started look after her, not because it was a command from the brain, he was in charge of looking after his friends after all, he could not leave her wandering alone in Cyan body, who knows what she will do to it, after looking for her for a good 5 minutes the body found her just before she would do something stupid.


    [Body]: ¡°Here you are Mana, don¡¯t go wandering around alone like that, i... i... said that I would take responsibility for you... I meant not like responsibility, I am in charge to looking after you¡­ so if you want to look around... I can escort you¡±


    The more the body talked the more red his face went, he did not know how to act in front of mana after all.


    Mana in the other hand was just satisfying her curiosity looking around the body of Cyan, and chose not keep messing out with the body.


    [Mana]: ¡°Alright I understand, hey what is that thing that goes thump thump thump, like a tambour¡±


    [Body]: ¡°sigh how do you know what a tambour is, but not what the heart is, listen well, the heart is one of the principal organ of the body, without it, Cyan would not last 1 minute, I keep a watch over the heart of 24/7, and this fellow has never stopped beating under my watch, but he doesn¡¯t talk at all, so it very lonely in here, see the heart is like a pump that spread the blood all over the place, and in the blood is the vehicle that goes all throughout the body carrying things the body needs to function like sugars and nutrients¡±


    Mana was not understanding anything that the body was saying, it was too complex for her, but her instinct were acting up again.


    [Body]: ¡°¡­. And then the blood goes to the brain where¡­ and then the muscles use¡­. Of course I command over the muscle¡­ and then there is the Stomach that is¡­.¡±


    [Mana]: ¡°Humm can I touch it?¡±


    The body was immersing himself in his on explication about the heart, and then he side tracked to how the body worked so he was too late to stop Mana.


    [Body]: ¡°What? Touch it of course not!¡±


    But it was too late, when he understood what Mana was asking she was already touching it¡±.


    [Body]: ¡°Hey do go touching things without a reply¡±


    [Mana]: ¡°You did not reply back and I was getting bored sooo¡±


    [Body]: ¡°Don¡¯t sooo me, and stop touching the heart already¡±


    Mana was refusing to comply, something was telling her to¡­ help it?


    [Mana]: ¡°Alright I understand¡±.


    Mana nodded his head.


    [Body]: ¡°it is good if you understand¡±


    The body was nodding too but he has misunderstood why Mana was nodding, she was now closing her eyes, and the mana around her was moving to the inside of the heart.


    [Body]: ¡°Hey wait what are you doing stoooppp¡±


    But Mana did not listen to him and keep pouring mana inside the heart.


    thump¡­ thump... thump¡­ thump¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Just as the body was panicking the heart¡­ stopped beating.


    The body froze, the heart just has stopped, and this is the end, the apocalypse, no heart no Cyan, the heart has never stopped before.


    The first one to notice it, was¡­ of course the brain.


    [Brain]: ¡°BODYYYYYYYYY THE HEART, DO SOMETHING FAST¡±


    The body staggered almost falling to the floor, he never had heard the brain scream so loud, this was truly an emergency that has never happen before, this was the body worst nightmare, but because this never has happen before he did not know what to do, ergo he froze, and the scream of the brain brought him back to reality.


    [Body]: ¡°Move¡±


    Moving Mana away from the heart, the body did the only thing he could thought of, he started to beat the heart to make it work again, following the same melody he was o so familiar with.


    [Body]: ¡°Come on¡­, come on¡­ come on¡­¡±


    Not long after, thump¡­ thump¡­ thump, the hearth started to beat again, like normal.


    Letting a sigh of relief the body turned to look over Mana, she was¡­ smiling and looking over the heart with a caring face, she was not worry at all, no a little bit for the stopping heart, like if she know it would beat again.


    This was too much to handle ¡®what are you doing? Are you trying to kill us?¡¯ that was he wanted to ask but¡­ looking over the smiling Mana that did not has a hint of malice and was truly happy for the heart, like she has done¡­ a good work, he hold himself back.


    Turning around and looking over the heart again, it was now¡­ blue, before it was light red, but now, it is light blue inside it, and it was glowing, body closed his eyes, he could feel it, the changes in the heart, it was¡­ stronger, incomparably stronger than before, if before was minivan now it was a truck.


    The heart can handle a huge load now, and it was not only the heart that has change, it was just the beginning, the heart was connected to everything in Cyan body, everything was becoming stronger, it was like night and day.


    Soon Brain was there with them.


    The body stood up very fast in defense of Mana.


    [Body]: ¡°Brain, she¡­ she did not meant it, she had made us (me) stronger, please don¡¯t get mad at her, I am the one that allowed her to touch the heart, if you want to hit someone hit me instead¡±.


    [Mana]: ¡°Body you¡­¡±


    Mana was moved by how the body was protecting her, she did not know of what, because for her she did nothing wrong but even so, and the body was so caring of her, so she could not help but to be moved by his actions.


    Looking over the love struck Mana, and the all protecting body, the brain let a sigh.


    [Brain]: ¡°I know, I know, I am not here for anything like that¡±


    The brain was very, very mad at both of them at the beginning, but he too took notice of the changes in Cyan body, and the changes in the brain itself, his capability were also enchanted too.


    [Body]: ¡°Then?¡±


    [Brain]: ¡°Body, you need to take a good care of Mana and protect her, she is very important and a special existence for us (you)¡­ never let her out of your sight, that¡¯s all¡±.


    Turning around the Brain left just like that, leaving a shocked body and a smiling Mana.


    His only thought ¡®Those two will be my end, sigh¡¯.


    While for Arlom, Cyan was progressing magnificently, for the brain of Cyan it was just a big headache.

 Chapter 13: The true, prisoner

    Chapter 13: The true, prisoner


    Arlom had come back only to see Cyan still sleeping on the floor, but something was different about him, it was hard to not notice it.


    ''did I saw it wrong? But He was glowing for second right?''


    The changes in Cyan body were no missed by Arlom, but he understood how deeply those changes were, because he was expecting them to happen, he has seen those changes in someone else before, himself,nevertheless.


    ¡®it is way too fast¡¯.


    [Arlom]: "Cyan wake up and go to take a shower, I will handle the food"


    Being called by Arlom, Cyan finally has come back from his trance? Or was it a dream? He was actually having a pleasing dream of silly tiny people that were living inside him, talking with one and other about strange things and they reference each other as the brain, the stomach and mana? And there was someone else too, but he could not remember any more details of the dream, it was a rather a stupid dream but nevertheless he was having fun in it, he got the feeling that¡­


    ¡äit was a quite important dream¡ä.


    Standing up Cyan could feel the weight of his body or better yet, the lack of, he was falling to the ground as soon he tried to stand up, was he still tired? Not, he was feeling as light as a feather, no it was even worse than that...


    ''This... how is this possible? Just before I was so tired that I could not even stand up, but now I don¡¯t feel tired at all and I feel so light¡­ so weightless, why I can¡ät stand up''


    Just a while ago, gravity was pressing him down to the ground and he could not put any strength in his limbs to stand up, but now¡­ he could not feel a thing, being tiredness or even¡­ the gravity of this planet in his body at all.


    This was different from the time when he was using his control over the mana around him to move around just to avoid the rocks, he still could feel the law of gravity pulling him down to the ground, he was just balancing the weight of his body and using his muscles to jump around, with the added bonus of using the mana too, like if that were muscles of his body.


    Now, how exactly he manage to do that?, it was rather simple, he just picture it and it worked just like that, it was totally a cheat, just picturing something in your mind it became real? Was he still dreaming? Was all this a dream?


    Actually, calling it control over was mana feel it rather wrong to him, he could not control mana at all, it was more like, if he was just talking with mana and asking for her help? If Cyan could picture it now, inside his body this sort thing would had happened just like that.


    *Inside Cyan body (This was a while back when there in the training session)


    [Body]: ¡°Mana try to follow my every move, let''s see if we can dodged the rocks this time¡±.


    [Mana]: ¡°Hum? Do I just copy you? Will that actually work?¡±


    [Body]: ¡°Who knows, but the thing is that I am the body, I move and the body moves, there are no buttons or levers or anything like that that you could press to help me move the body¡­ so is the only thing I could think of¡­ is that you could move¡­ just like me?¡±


    [Mana]: ¡°Well I guess¡­is alright, then after you¡±


    Mana was totally clueless what the body wanted to do, but in Mana mind, this was better than not doing anything, and just sit and wait, it is not like Cyan was giving her any order anytime soon either way, no, it should take a lot time for Cyan to be able to talk to her in any meaningfully way, it is better to do something meanwhile of her own will.


    [Body]: ¡°OK! follow after me, like this, Ja!¡±


    [Mana]: ¡°Like this?¡±


    [Body]: ¡°Very good, but you were a little bit off, we don¡¯t much time so let¡¯s carry on, next time try to follow exactly the same, now like this, Jo!¡±


    [Mana]: ¡°JO!¡±


    Now an embarrassed face was put by the body, what was thatshout Mana just did, of course he said to follow exactly after him, but he was now being embarrassed of being exactly copied, the body now took awareness of his movements a little.


    [Body]: ¡°Mana... you don¡¯t have toshout too, and so laud at that¡±


    [Mana]: ¡°But you did it too, and you say to follow exactly after you¡±


    [Body]: ¡°But you can¡¯t!¡±


    [Mana]: ¡°I can¡¯t? Why not?¡±


    [Body]: ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s because, I am the body and only I can handle such an important task, nobody else, if anybody else do it, it would lost the effect¡±


    [Mana]: ¡°Really? And who told you that?¡±


    [Body]: ¡°Of course it was the brain¡±


    Pointing to the brain and looking over there, the body could see the brain¡­ laughing on the floor, rolling over it, side to side¡­ how much time has passed since the brain has told him to say such embarrassing lines when he was moving around, how long it would take for him to notice it, that it was just a prank? The brain couldn''t hold himself back.


    At the beginning the body was refusing to do it, but the brain insisted on it, ¡®it is necessary for you, it will make you move even faster! And even look cool! and you are the only one that can do it, nobody else, not me nor the stomach, but only you, this important task can only be done by you, nobody else can handle it, can we count on you?¡¯, of course all these were just a bunch of lies, the brain was waiting this moment for so long that he couldn¡¯t hold his laughter back¡­ not one little bit.


    Actually after that the last prank hadnever come to fruition, he grew bored and started to plan other things to do, like thinking that if he got the change he will make the body wear some ridiculous outfit and go round the schools hallways helping in his fellow schoolmates in the name of justice, how embarr¡­ I mean, how cool would that be for the body.


    As a base for his argument he will use the case of the cool secret masked warrior of justice of the past, known as ¡®the warrior of the park that scared of the fifth graders when there were in fourth grade¡¯, it was a glorious title, that the brain always remember with a proud face, as a way of hiding his own laughter over the matter that is.


    Actually, all of the closest friendsofCyan knew who the masked warrior of justice of that time was, he was still was carrying the same stu¡­ ¡®cool¡¯ backpack back in the school, that he used to defeat the fifth graders, they became his friends when they had recognized him in the school, but at the end they did not said a thing about, why they have becomehis friends, it was better that the ¡®cool¡¯ masked warrior of justice that they knew remained just like that, and teasing Cyan with that history of the past was a lot of fun too.


    His friends teased him telling the history of the masked ally of justice from time to time, always omitting who the masked warrior actually was, at those times Cyan could dig a holeto thrown himself in.


    As the brain grew bored with each passing day, he started to prepared everything for the reappearance of the cool masked hero, ally of justice and all those who are in need.


    So the brain casually began his plot, plating the idea into the body.


    [Brain]: ¡°hey body, don¡¯t you remenber back in the past, when you saved your friends back in that park? At the end they had become your best friends, funny how things work don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Now the body was putting a bitter smile, it was true that he acted impulsively, but never the less he does not regret it, he just regret that co¡­ i mean stupid costume set with a mask, he put on himself, so nobody could recognized him, it was also to cover his terrified face, he was very scared of those fifth graders.


    How he couldn¡¯t be afraid? They were twice, No, they were three times his size, but he still moved to confront those bully of the weak.


    Nevertheless he had never dared to put that stupid mask again, he also had stored it in the secrets of places that nobody would ever find out, under his bed.


    ¡®Man that mask was really cool, I wish I could put it one more time, sigh¡¯


    The body shook his head, no, he can''t put that mask again, what if someone else find out? He would die of shame on the spot.


    The brain knew that, he has the body attention now, it was now time to make his move.


    [Brain]: ¡°Hey, body I know, is not the first day of school coming up soon? It would be amazingly cool that, the masked warrior of justice, would appeared again in that day, don''t you think? The first day is when bully are most active after all, no, I am sure the ally of justice would be needed in that day!¡±


    The brain was nodding his face, making a face of ¡®this is the right thing to do¡¯, or ¡®you must do, not for yourself but for the children¡¯, ''think about the the cool stuff you could, like saving the day again''.


    The body in the other hand was jumping of his spot.


    [Body]: ¡°What! Are you crazy? I couldn¡¯t endure the shame if someone else had found out about that time in the park, and you want me to do it again? Did you want that much for me to die of shame?¡±


    Actually the brain knew very well that, every one of his friends knew this already since the beginning his identity, the brain was not stupid like the body after all, yup, the only one that doesn¡¯t know that his secret identity, was alreadyknown and even sharedby his friends was only the body himself, or maybe he was just pretending just to not know, so he would not die of shame, Who knows.


    The brain of course could only pour his honest feeling to the body, like he always did.


    [Brain]: ¡°But, nobody has found out about last time right? Then this time as well, nobodywould ever find out, also, would not be cool, that after so many years, ¡®the epic comeback of the masked hero ally of justice that appeared in the park and that defeated the fifth graders when he was just a fourth grader¡¯ show himself again?¡±


    The brain made a pause se he could breathe again, ¡®man that¡¯s a long title, sigh¡¯


    [Brain]: ¡°How cool you were back then, fighting those fifth graders that were two, no, three times your size, and when you was just an ant to them, andyou were so scared, you still defeated and made them run away¡±


    Now we know from where all the body self opinions come from.


    The body only thought was that the brain always did this to him, he always will cheat¡­ I mean, cheer him up, and gave him the best of advices, the body could always depend on the brain for everything.


    [Body]: ¡°¡­.do you really think I was that cool?¡±


    [Brain]: ¡°Of course! you were so cool, no, you are still cool, and the mask you were wearing that day, you still have it don¡¯t you? You are even more cool than before, now that you had grown tall, nobody would ever look down on you like an ant anymore¡±


    Actually the body of Cyan was very short at that age, but he grew tall over the years.


    Seeing that this plan was coming along, the brain could not stop himself for doing all he could to make it happen.


    [Brain]: ¡°The way you entered the park, without nobody noticing it, and then left the same way after saving the day at the end. Even after so many years nobody has ever found out about it, ¡®who was that masked hero¡¯, ¡®that was the ally of justice¡¯, ¡®thank you hero¡¯, they even say that now, see, this time also, nobody will found out, what you say, don¡¯t you wish to be that masked hero again? I know you are still saving that mask for one last time¡±


    The body could not denied it, he wanted to wear that cool mask one more time, just one more time and he would be done with it.


    [Body]: ¡°I¡­. I will think about it¡±


    For the brain this was as good as a done deal, he only needs to wait for the day to come and enjoy the show.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Back to the present.


    ¡®Tsk¡­.¡¯ The brain stopped laughing all of the sudden, he was in bad mood now, he prepared so much for that day, only to be ruined at the end, he could picture it, how cool everything would had been, letting out a sigh, he stood up very fast, dusted of his metaphoric robe and walked away like if nothing had happened, putting his hand behind his back and walked with lost sight to the horizon while fading away, it was so hard to being him right now.


    The body and Mana were a little confuse after watching the weird behavior that the brain has shown¡­ they just decide to ignore it, it was for the best anyway, there were other things to do.


    [Body]: ¡°Mana¡­ let¡¯s keep going¡­ h..ha!¡±


    Even if the body was trying to not shout out, after realizing it was all just a prankof the brain, he could not stopped himself of doing it, ¡®whatever I don¡¯t care anymore sigh¡¯


    [Mana]: ¡°HA!!¡±


    Looking over Mana, that energetic shout was actually¡­ quite fun to do.


    [Body]: ¡°OHH Nice shout, let me try HA!¡±


    Mana was clapping away to that, cool and energetic shout.


    [Mana]: ¡°Very good! Let me, let me try HA!¡±


    Soon, they just forgot about the brain and that they were shouting like crazy people, but the body didn¡¯t forgot to... ¡®Brain thank you, you always give me the best advices after all¡¯


    [Body]: ¡°Oh very good follow up, let¡¯s keep going, now do this, HA!¡±


    [Mana]: ¡°Alright, HA!¡±


    At the beginning nothing changed even until at the end, it was a shame to admit but Mana could not move the body at all, she was Mana not the body, only the body could move the body.


    But, just like the body who could only move the body, Mana could only move the mana, and the mana move with her, and that mana supported the moves of the body like a second body would.


    Mana did it, by following the moves of the body, she could also move the body¡­ together better than alone, after doing this and that, they were having a good sync between them for this being the first time they did something like this, but there were still some mistakes here and there that need it to be fixed in the future.


    Mana would fall off and the body would try to catch her, or she would make a small mistake here and there and fall behind, Mana did not know any moves like the body self-taught karate education, so he took the time to explain his moves to her,actually the body has learned from a proper master before, but how can he look cool if he said that? He just omitted that part out, nevertheless, Mana was a good student.


    [Body] ¡°When you feel that you are falling you need to move like this, or like this, then you need to feel the weight of the body and balance it out and then move were you feel it is right and then if you did it right it depends from where the next rock will come, but if for example is from on top then you do like this, or like this then like this¡±.


    [Mana]: ¡°Ha?¡±


    [Body]: ¡°You will get it fast, it is very easy once you learn it, look, HA!¡±


    Even if the beginning it was very difficult, net the end.


    [Body and Mana]: ¡°HA! HA!¡±


    They did a good job of dodging the rocks.


    Back to the present Cyan was¡­


    ¡®This world is broken beyond help, a cheat, I tell you, mana is a cheat¡¯, those where the honest thoughts of Cyan mind at that time, but back to his current problem it was a little more tricky for him to resolve.


    Back to the training grounds were Cyan could not stood up.


    Now, he could not feel his own weight, Cyan was wondering how everything was glued to the ground.


    ¡ädid actually someone turn off the gravity? Is this some kind of spell that Master did?¡¯


    Arlom was just standing in front of him just fine, so it was not him doing something, it was affecting only to him?


    It was very hard to keep his body balanced, as soon he stood up from the ground, he would fall again, but more than falling it was like floating to the ground, how can he feel there is no gravity and still land in the ground at the same time, something was making him fall so there must gravity right?.


    [Cyan]: "Master, a little help please, I¡­ can¡¯t stand up¡±, Cyan knew already what Arlom would say, but what other choice did he had.


    Arlom was calming looking over him, like he was watching an idiot putting a show in public, standing up just to fall again for a few times.


    Arlom shook his head only to speak at the end.


    [Arlom]: "Kid¡­ Are you stupid?¡±


    ¡®YOU ARE THE STUPID¡¯ is what Cyan wanted to shout, but he could not, ¡®no wait kid? If not that an improvement over being called a child already?¡¯


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, I¡­ can¡¯t balance my body, I can¡¯t feel my own weight at all, my weight it is gone, it is like someone has turn off the gravity¡±


    Arlom was still looking at Cyan with the same serious expression than before, there was no shock reflected in his expression, nor any other expression apart of his original expression that Arlom carry with him all the time and rarely changed at all.


    He only searched over the floor and picked a rock, throwing it up to the air, the rock went up some meters only to fall to the ground again, like¡­ it should do.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Nobody has turn off the law gravity Cyan, and nobody can turn it off, not even a god, it is just that¡­ you¡¯re understanding of the law is different now¡­ did you by chance, feel it like a prisoner of this planet? And wanted to free yourself? You wanted to be free from the chains the world has put on you? There is a solution for that, just try¡­ to remember your original weight, if that not work, then try to picture something very heavy is pulling you down¡±


    As a matter of fact, Cyan understood... absolute nothing all about what going on or what Arlom was saying.


    To Cyan the world has just become a little bit more broken for him now. ¡®Sigh whatever¡¯,closing his eyes Cyan tried remembering his own weight, ¡®it was like this or that¡­¡¯


    This time Cyan could stand up, his legs where a little weak because of the lack of weight, some of his weight was back, but he was still feeling his balance off, soon he could rebalance his body back up again, and after a few more tries, he was back on his feet, and was walking around like normal.


    The weight that Cyan was using to regain his balance was¡­ from his shamefully past, he hated to admit it but, that memory of the masked hero was working as a big weight over his shoulders,


    ¡®Nothing is heavier than the shame of the past, sigh¡¯.


    And from some reason he was remembering that past just before, so he may as well use that, the memory when he was the masked hero and saved¡­ his friends.


    [Cyan]: "Master, for how long I have been sleeping, did I sleep for one thousand years again? It could not that long right?"


    Arlom almost left his laughter out at that stupid joke, but he still hold it back.


    [Arlom]: "Why don¡¯t ask that stomach of yours the time, I am sure he can tell you the time"


    Cyan was puzzled by a second when he hear a growling sound that has come from his stomach like a reply for his question. ''I guess it should be time to eat then''


    All of his questions about the law of gravity, he¡­ gulp them down, Cyan body was no aching in pain, and all the tiredness he was feeling before falling asleep was gone now, it was like a miracle.


    Being a little ashamed for that growling sound of before Cyan asked his master for of course food.


    [Cyan]: "Master, did you bring something tasty to eat¡±


    Having taste the food made by Arlom three days in a row, Cyan did have quite high expectations for the food now.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I did but¡­ you really don¡¯t want to ask about the laws?¡±


    Letting out a sigh Arlom has seen clear as day, that, that Cyan was dodging to ask about it¡­ about the laws on purpose.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Can we wait until after we eat, there is some other things¡­ that I want to ask you first¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Well that¡¯s alright with me let¡¯s go¡±


    Just as Arlom was turning around Cyan has stopped him


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master it is that¡­ I did not slept for that long but... I am not tired anymore, no, I even feel... stronger now, and now with thing the law of gravity¡­ Master my progress should not be this fast, it''s not that right? Every time that I wake up something has change¡­ something inside me has changed as well, will I wake up tomorrow and still be me? Will I still be able to call myself Cyan tomorrow, Master?¡±


    Arlom shook his head, he has notice that, the Cyan he let sleeping was not the same Cyan that has woken up now, he was somewhat different but¡­


    [Arlom]: "Don¡¯t be s¡­ sigh¡­, Listen here kid, every single day of our lives is change, we change in some ways we don¡¯t even know, big or small, we are always moving and changing, adding things to ourselves, being outside or the inside, or it¡¯s that you are the same Cyan that you were the day you were born?, how about 10 years ago, how about 5, 3, 2, 1 year, a month ago?¡±


    If was true he had changed a lot already from his infant days, then, what is more changed to him now? No, Cyan was afraid of other thing, he was not afraid of change but something else.


    [Arlom]: ¡°You just need to keep moving forward, not because I tell you to Cyan, not because other people tell you to, and surly not because you are afraid in what you could become¡±


    That was it, Cyan was afraid, after ¡®evolving¡¯ will he also become a soulless monster like the monster king?


    The first day he arrived here, he had dreamed about an infinite void anything and everything, even him, he knew now, that void, were the eyes of the monster king, looking right at him.


    When they first meet the monster king had do something to him.


    Those eyes were so empty that could absorb you into the void, if you looked them for too long you will also start hatting everything, and become part of the void himself, can an innocent soul look at hell itself and remain the same? Would not it be tainted?, and Cyan himself has seeing it, when he was fighting the shackles of the world, hate was born from him in almost unlimited quantities, if not for Arlom angering to his limited, Cyan would had lose himself, just like¡­ Arlom once did.


    Of course those pills of Arlom for the brain, had a lot to do with Cyan recover from not getting lost, in a sea of anger and hate, after passing a certain point, they would trigger memories that would help calm the mind.


    Nevertheless the damage in Cyan mind was made, he was afraid of himself now.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan if you are so afraid that keep you from moving forward, you will wake up one morning and you will regret it and hate yourself, you will totally regret it, if you forcefully keep yourself the same you are only because of fear, you will never able to find what you are missing, you will not able to find yourself, the true Cyan, the one that can watch himself in the mirror and smile at his changes, the one that can accept himself for what he really is, a small stupid baby that had his mon clean after his diaper and feed breast him milk until he grew his teeth¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°But Master, what if¡­ what if I change into something I don¡¯t like, something I hate¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°If you hate it that much, then just change yourself back¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Change myself back, that¡¯s impossible Master?


    Arlom could only shook his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°To change yourself back you need to keep moving forward, there only two thing in life that you can¡¯t change back, one is the laws of the universe, you can use them but not change them, and the other thing is¡­ a dead person¡­ well maybe if you change yourself into a god of gods you can change it that too, but who knows¡±.


    Cyan shook his head.


    ¡®Sigh, I can beat my Master logic¡¯


    What Arlom was hinting to Cyan was something on the lines of to fix your past mistakes you need to keep going to the future, definitely after so many year years of being alone in a forest, Arlom mind was borderline crazy.


    But what worse is that Cyan could understand him, so far he had not made any mistake that he would want go to the past to fix, nevertheless all of his answers lay on the future as well as his future mistakes, the biggest hint that Arlom was giving him, was that he would regret giving up his future because being too afraid of making a mistake.


    And that were not just empty words, a clear example of that was in front of him.


    ¡®That¡¯s how you did it Master? That¡¯s how you escaped being a monster for 5 years?¡¯


    Even if Arlom medallion never had hit 0, he had descended to the void, there is denying it, no, Arlom was not completely escaped the void either, maybe the only thing that allow him to lost himself into the void was that lonely 1, that represented his last reaming humanity, maybe it was because of that his counter was stuck at 1, Arlom soul himself was stopping him.


    ¡®I am so stupid, getting afraid of something so ridiculous, in front of the man that has almost lost everything and lost himself, but still choose to move forward, with all his mistakes, sigh, I am such a child¡¯


    Once again, maybe Cyan was really lucky to be found by a man that could guide him inside the forest.


    Having understood that there is was not point in keep worrying about this matter he just has to let it go, it was better to move on, no, if Cyan actually wants to help Arlom he needs to move forward, even if just a little bit, his wished to help Arlom only grew inside Cyan.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Gods of Gods? Master does gods truly truly exists in this world?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Of course they do, but in this world? Cyan who else do you think that has brought you here?¡±


    Cyan pondered for a second it was obvious if you think about but, Arlom knew an awful lot.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, you knew the answer as to why I was brought here to this world in the first place right?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Why don¡¯t you give it a guess?¡±


    Cyan could only give up to try to understand Arlom, he would be very honest with some things but other things he would left them in the dark just because, but it was best like this, Cyan need to train his mind and if Arlom gave him all the answers his mind would not develop.


    [Cyan]: ¡°sigh, It is because¡­ I can talk with the law of mana so freely isn¡¯t? But to think it was a god, but nevertheless that doesn¡¯t explain why I landed in this forest, Master did that god hate or something? Maybe I didn¡¯t pray to him enough?¡±


    No matter how hard he try, if a god has send him here, why he would drop him in the middle of a forest were ¡®that¡¯ thing was, was not this dropping him to his own dead?


    In the other hand, Arlom actually knew that answer, and he choose¡­ to tell Cyan the true, there is not point of hiding it anyway.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Sigh, Cyan it is best if you hear this from me, maybe it was god that has sent you into this world, but I was the reason that you ended in this forest, I had used this to bring you inside here¡±


    With a serious face, and a somewhat regret of his face, Arlom threw half of a broken medallion into the ground, this medallion was white, not like his black medallion.


    Arlom did not stop to look the stunned face of Cyan


    [Arlom]: ¡°Don¡¯t you think that is too much of coincidence that I found you as soon are you arrived? And then I took you and protect you after a few words between us? You didn¡¯t even knew the idiom at first and you knew nothing about me, as a matter of fact I am still should be a complete stranger to you¡±


    Cyan was¡­ in silent, and just looking at the eyes of the man in front of him, should he be angry? Should he be happy that Arlom has told him the true? Was actually that all the true to it? Should he reject Arlom as his Master and run away from him? Of course¡­ he couldn¡¯t, no, Cyan was his prisoner from the very beginning, there is no way to run away from him, he didn¡¯t even know where the cave exit is, no, maybe everything he was told him from the beginning was big lie, what was the true and what were the lies, but, if so then why?¡­


    Cyan was looking at Arlom with not an angry face but with a calm face.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Why¡­ why you are telling me this now?, should not you wait for when we reach the gate and then you would laugh at my stupid face stab me in the back and exit this forest after telling all the true and throwing of some random cliff?¡±


    Cyan could understand a little more his Master now, the regret he saw that first day, was the feeling of regret for bringing him he here, maybe this was Arlom way of apologizing?


    [Arlom]: ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid, you are just a prisoner in here, nothing will change if I tell you the true, you have realized that too, didn¡¯t you? You are not that stupid after all¡±


    Lowering his view from Arlom eyes, Cyan break it his eye contact with him.


    Cyan shook his head, this lying Master of his, there was not fixing him.


    [Cyan]: ¡°sigh¡­ Master¡­ don¡¯t lie to me, I am not that stupid as you think, and I believed¡­ you knew I will eventually know the true¡±


    Arlom face grew red, this was a change in Arlom expression, he was becoming¡­ angry.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Believe what you want stupid child, I had bring you in here just to find a way to scape this place, you don¡¯t know anything at all about me, and the things I had done to escape this cage, I have being so many damn years inside this cage, the things I did, you don¡¯t know the monster I have become¡±


    It was Arlom that had become angry at the end, he was almost shouting at this point, Cyan shook his head again, and looked directly to Arlom eyes.


    His face calm, eyes serious, Cyan reply back to Arlom about his own true, his own answer, to the best way he could.


    [Cyan]: ¡°You are not lying about the reason I am in this forest, I can see it in your eyes¡­ there is hope, there is the true and there are also lies and a lot suffering, but mostly there is¡­ regret every time you look at me, I thought it was because I was not what you were looking for, but that¡¯s wrong, I am exactly that, that you were looking the most, but, I am also the only thing that you didn¡¯t wanted to find in here the most too, sigh¡­ I am not that stupid¡­ you are the true prisoner in here, and I will help you break free...dad¡±

 Chapter 14: Dad

    Chapter 14: Dad


    Arlom shook his head, this kid was truly stupid, Cyan should know better than this.


    [Arlom]: "Don''t be stupid, my son should be at least 30 years old this year, he should be grown man and you are just a stupid little kid, do you even know math? How old are you?"


    [Cyan]: "I am fifteen this year dad, well that¡¯s in earth years".


    Nevertheless Cyan still carry it on with his impossible ¡®true¡¯


    As for Arlom, he was a little angry, was mocking him? Is this some kind of plot because he had tell him the true? Arlom has never expected to Cyan to react this way.


    In fact, this was saying this because Arlom was told him the true, but not all of it, if his father were to be a monster that was beyond saving, then Cyan would not move so brazenly, no, the faster he acted, the better are the chances for saving Arlom, if let this matter go, Arlom would keep digging his own grave and then closed it with a door of regret which he wouldn¡¯t be able to cross.


    Cyan had a feeling this will come to past in the future, even if he was actually¡­ not very sure of this ¡®true¡¯ he was talking about himself, but, saving Arlom now was the priority this can¡¯t wait.


    [Arlom]: "Stop calling me dad, I am not your dad, we don''t even look anything alike"


    [Cyan]: ¡°Come on dad, even a blind man could see we look very alike, the monster king has realized it as soon I said my name¡±


    Cyan nodded his head, like reaffirming his own true.


    [Cyan]: "Dad, I very happy that, I can finally meet you in person".


    [Arlom]: "Hey kid, are you listing to me here, I am not your dad".


    Arlom was growing impatient, this stupid was acting stupid again, now this was beyond anything stupid Cyan had done before.


    [Cyan]: "To think ''my dad is someonefrom another planet'' oh it has a nice ring to it, I will write a book with this title when I am back to earth, what you think of this title dad?"


    [Arlom]: "Kid you better stop talking nonsense in front of me"


    Arlom was gripping his hands around the axe at his back, this joke has come too far now, it must be stopped.


    Arlom was growing angrier now, this kid was surly making fun of him.


    Nevertheless Cyan face grew serious, this was not a joking matter to him, this was all to save Arlom from his own future, there is not turning back now.


    [Cyan]: "Dad, were you in cahoots with the hunter queen and the monster king too? Then you betrayed them just because I show up? or was your plan from the beginning? Is the only way I can explain that 3 of the most powerful individuals of this forest to show up at the same time as I did right?"


    [Arlom]: "I already tell you I am not your dad or anything relate to you, so stop calling that already, and it was just a temporary alliance that I made with monster king, the hunter queen was just there to try to kill me, but at the end, she help me to trick you into following me that¡¯s it is all"


    Cyan keep staring to the eyes of the man in front of him.


    [Cyan]: "So it was like that, dad"


    Before Cyan could react, a flying fist hit him in the stomach throwing him a few meters back.


    [Arlom]: "Hey kid do you think that I am playing games here"


    With an eerie voice, Arlom was looking very menacing to Cyan, but he still¡­ was a stupid kid after all.


    [Cyan]: "cough¡­ cough¡­. I know is not game, da...¡±


    Before Cyan finish his sentence, Arlom was in front of him forcing him to shup up.


    [Arlom]: "Said that I am you dad one more time kid"


    Arlom as casting a huge black shadow over Cyan that was still on the floor holding his stomach because of the pain of that punch, Arlom was looking like a giant that could squash him like an ant at any second


    Cyan was feeling something he had never felt before, no, he had feel it before, that indescribable cold win, he had felt 3 days ago when he had meet with Arlom for the first time, but he had not realized what this cold wind was, and after a few days of training Cyan could understand it now.


    ¡®Is this¡­ fear? Ah, so it was like this, the legendary killing intent, to think that the first time I got to experience it, it will coming from my own father, sigh¡¯


    Arlom eyes were not laughing at all, there was not any sign in Arlom eyes that he could mistake as a joke, Arlom will surly kill him if this go on. Arlom had the same eyes of the time when he asked him if he was his enemy, not a lot of time has passed after that, and Arlom was already ready to kill him again.


    ¡®Sleeping with load guns is really troublesome, sigh, those eyes are no joke but¡­¡¯


    Cyan was sure what the consequences will be from the beginning when he said what he thought was the true, it was more like he¡­ has seen it what would happen.


    Nobody likes when someone else tell you the true that, you yourself choose to ignore after all.


    Cyan could not help but to think, what the consequences would be if he failed now, it would not only be his end, but also Arlom end, the final step that would throw him of the cliff between a monster and a human, even now Cyan was think such stupid thing when his life was in danger, truly foolish.


    ¡®Hang in there a little bit dad, I will help you to scape your prison¡¯


    Cyan was still trying his best to stand up but that punch really got him good, he was sure some bones were broken, his ears were buzzing and his vision was becoming blurry, but, Cyan still stood up at the end, he was not using mana or anything like that to stand up but only his will, he can¡¯t ask mana to help him right now, no, mana has a more important task he needs to ask her to do.


    With his shaky legs, Cyan looked directly to Arlom eyes again, and¡­ smiled at him before taking air and start screaming the thing Arlom wanted to hear the lest, more than just once


    [Cyan]: "DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DA¡­".


    The veins in Arlom head were almost bursting out, Cyan did not only said it just one more time, he did not shup up and was repeating the same word over and over.


    Arlom would not allow to actions to continue, without thinking it, Arlom threw another fist to Cyan stupid face.


    [Arlom]: "I SAID I AM NOT YOUR FATHER"


    Cyan was sent flying back once more with great force, what stopped him was the cave wall behind him, it was not a soft impact.


    Coughing a mouth full of blood, Cyan body could only drop to the floor, he was not moving at all.


    His face was swelling, his mouth could only taste the flavor of blood, Cyan was feeling like that all of his organs were miss placed and his bones had turned into start dust, the pain he was felling was beyond the poison pills he has took before, he could be seeming in pain if not for his broken jaw stopping him to be able to talk¡­, but he still was able to¡­


    [Cyan]: "Dad, can you tell how Mon and you meet for the first time?¡±


    Even if Cyan should not be able to talk right now, Arlom was still hearing him very clearly like if he was at his side, and that¡¯s because, Cyan was talking with him using Mana, Arlom could hear the voice of Cyan in his brain¡­ it was driving him crazy, a flow of question was invading Arlom brain right now, all the questions where about¡­ his mon.


    [Arlom]: "shup up"


    [Cyan]: "Dad¡­ can you tell me how was Mon¡­? I am sure she was very beautiful right?"


    Maybe Cyan was a little bit afraid of listening his Mon history from his Dad, but he still was very curious about her, so he could only ask.


    [Arlom]: "¡­shup up¡­."


    Arlom was holding his head with his hands, like trying to pull out something of it.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Dad, did I have the same as her right? Like if she gave them to me¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    [Arlom]: "shup up shup up"


    [Cyan]: ¡°Dad¡­ did you fall in love with Mon at first sight?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I SAID SHUT UP¡±


    Screaming to the top of his lungs while covering his ears was Arlom, trying his hardest to listing to Cyan words, he was reaching his maximum tolerance limits.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Dad¡­ what was Mon name?¡±


    [Arlom]: "AAAARHHHHHGG SHUT UP!!!!! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP"


    No matter how loud he screamed to Cyan, he did not obey him and the only way to make Cyan shut up was¡­


    Now, Arlom flying in rage at him, something never before seen by Cyan or any other person that was still alive¡­ but after coming this far, being afraid of death didn¡ät stopped Cyan from using mana to ¡®talk¡¯ with Arlom, there were somethings that he need to say to Arlom.


    Cyan was reduce to a pile of broken bones, scramble organs and bleeding wounds, he was in this state with only two punches of Arlom and this was Arlom holding himself back, if you can call it that way, because, the one that was moving was not Arlom himself, but the guard of his prison, the one preventing him from...


    Now Arlom started to walk in the direction Cyan was, his face was back to being calm and serious, but it was a serious of someone that was ready to kill somebody, and that face was looking directly to Cyan.


    While they were ¡®talking¡¯ Cyan has managed to sit down by putting his back against the wall he has just crash into, he used a little of help from mana to do this huge achievement of sit down, and even if he was in a terrible pain for doing this, he wanted to see the at the eyes of the man that he was claiming it was his own father.


    With a thug sound, Arlom has stopped just before of Cyan, on more hit and it would be the end for Cyan, one more hit and he would be buried into the wall¡­ forever.


    But just as Arlom was coming close to Cyan, in his blinding rage he could still see the bleeding and broken body of Cyan, after seen this, he manage to calm his mind down and regained a little of his sanity back, this is what extended Cyan life a few more minutes.


    Raising his broken skull, Cyan could only see with his right eye now, but he still looked into Arlom eyes, even his Cyan face was physically incapable of showing a smile, his eyes still reflected that as matter of fact he smiling at Arlom.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I can see it in your eyes dad, I can see it with the eyes Mon gave me, even if you want to close your eyes to the true, your intuition are yelling at you the true, I can also feel it because in me there are the same intuition that you gave me, even if you want to be blind, you can¡ät remain blind forever, please I beg you, open your eyes and come back to the man you were before, I know you can do it if is you¡±.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Stop¡­ please stop, stop looking at me with her eyes, I already knew it, but I¡­ I could not bring myself to accepted it¡±


    Arlom face was of someone in terrible pain, that was not physically pain but mentally, his eyes reflected this, by crying the amount he haven¡¯t cry for years, he has move and attacked Cyan as a form of protection, protection for the prison he has built inside him, but Cyan has manage to strike at that the walls waking up the prisoner inside it, now Cyan just need to bring this wall down, but he could not move right now, no staying awake was already a huge task from him.


    [Cyan]: ¡°sigh, such a stupid father, ja, I think I know now from where I got my own stupid brain¡±


    Arlom got into his knees in front of Cyan.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I don¡¯t deserve to be called your father, because of me¡­ because of me you are in this hellish place, I was too blind in my despair to leave this place, I tried to bring a pure innocent soul to take my place in this forest, and after you know up¡­ I¡­ everything I had done what was for? What if it was not you but someone else son or daughter? Would I continue without locking back? Did I became a monster without noticing it? In just what I have become?... and the price that I had to pay for my own stupidity is that ¡®I dragged my own son to hell with me¡¯ is that a good title for you to put in my grave?, my own hell has now become yours, how would I be able to face her, how would I look her into the eyes and tell her what I did¡­ how I can ask you to forgive this stupid man¡±.


    At this moment Arlom was seeing the shadow of his dead wife in Cyan eyes, his eyes where truly the same as hers, the smiling eyes of Cyan where more painful that the stronger of his poison, the weight of his regret were making him literally sink into the ground, like digging his own grave, but it was the turn of Cyan to talk.


    ¡®Sigh, truly a SSS grade father, S for stupid that is¡¯


    Even if Cyan could not talk, he could still use Mana for communication, how he actually learn how to do that, it was from his dream, if he could communicate with Mana by just ¡®talking¡¯ and mana could reply him back in his dream, them would not that mana be able to communicate with other people too?


    It was just a dream but, he feel like he could do it if he ask mana to do it, for Cyan it was like he was talking normally even if he was not moving his lips, for Arlom it was a nightmare, the only way to shut Cyan up was to kill him?, he couldn¡¯t, even if he would turn into a monster, he wouldn¡¯t be able to kill his own son, nevertheless Arlom still have a shred of humanity in him.


    Cyan has seen it with his own eyes, he has seen that Arlom could not kill him, his eyes were a gift of his mother and they were the same as his mother eyes, as they could peek into the window of the soul and see the true a person was hiding, this was the reason of why someone has taken away his mother soon after she had gave birth to him, the true, it was always in Arlom eyes looking back at him, truly stupid.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Dad¡­ I am not her, I am not Mon, nor I can replace her, I can¡ät forgive you in her stead, the weight of your sins, I can¡¯t carry it for you¡­ but, you had never looked away from them or refuse to accept them, the moment I appeared in from of you, you were able to tell who I was, and¡­ what wrongs you had done, even if you choose to hide the true for me and even yourself, even if my age did not fit the age that I should had, you had already theorized that both of our world have different understanding of the law of time isn¡ät that right?, for me it has being only 15 years but for you it has being 30 years¡±


    Cyan did not gave any change to Arlom to reply back, he don¡¯t have a lot of time, he had to say his piece now or never, so he has continue to talk with stopping.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Dad if you don¡¯t like in what you have become¡­ then change it, my stupid Master has told before when I was afraid of my own changes that, you can always change yourself back if you keep moving forward, and the only thing you can¡ät change are the laws and the dead, I am still alive dad and I am still here, it is not too late to change yourself back to the man you were and escape this forest with me¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°I don¡¯t know what you did to make your load so heavy but you always face it head on, just like when you looked at me, you never looked away from me, even if it is too painful for you, I can understand know why Mon had fall in love with you¡±


    The words of Cyan were stronger that the stronger of his fist, Arlom walls were shanking now, but his has not finished just yet.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Dad, You need to forgive yourself and move on that¡¯s the first step, not because I said so, not because some else has forgiven you, not because you are afraid someone else will condemned you, not because you are afraid of being hated, but because you will regret it, and you will be shackle to that regret, you will be shackled to the past and never be able redeemed yourself, please for the sake of your future, go back to the man you were before this nightmare has begun, when mon was still alive, and¡­ I still wasn¡¯t born yet¡±


    Cyan could not hold his conscience anymore and instantly closed his eyes, ¡®truly a stupid father¡¯ was his last thought before falling to the land of dreams, it has not being 30 minutes from the time he has just woken up and Cyan was knock out unconscious again.


    Arlom was still kneeling in front Cyan, his own son has grew splendid, even if both his real Mon and Dad were not there with him, Cyan was so much like both them that, it was like they never had left his side from the very beginning.


    [Arlom]: ¡°You are truly a fool like your mother and¡­ stupid like your father, sigh, Cyan, her name was Cyan, she gave you her own name, just because the color of your eyes were the same Cyan, of course she would do something as foolish as that, but, that¡¯s why I has fallen in love with her too, I am sorry Cyan, please forgive this stupid father of yours, I had already realized my mistakes but I could not forgive myself, I know now in what I have become and I will now change it back to the man I was before, so one day¡­ you can call me dad¡­ once more time¡±


    The wall on Arlom prison were shaken but still not broken, even if Cyan had tried with all his being, he alone was incapable of bringing the walls down, no, there was one last obstacle in Arlom mind for truly be free of his prison, the true wall.


    [Dark-Arlom]: ¡°Arlom are you still this stupid so late in the game? It is way too late for you my friend, can you really change what you did? Do you think you can be forgiving?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I can change only myself, what is already done can¡¯t be changed back, at least with my own power, I can¡¯t change it, but I still can change my own future and while I am at it, I will not let my son future be like my own too¡±


    [Dark-Arlom]: ¡°So greedy, but what is the point of that? Do you think you can live with yourself after what you have done? Do you think he will call you his father after he knows you true colors?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°You have it wrong, there is a point, to become what I should had being from the beginning, a father to Cyan¡±


    [Dark-Arlom]: ¡°You are just wasting your time, Cyan will never acknowledge you, a true monster, as his own father¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°You are mistaken in that regard, I am doing this for myself and not for anyone else sake, even if Cyan never acknowledged me as his father I will still become his father, I am that selfish, and you can even call stupid all you want, but I will walk my own path not yours¡±


    [Dark-Arlom]: ¡°What about all the people you had killed in cold blood, you are just a murderer, you can¡¯t change that, accept it, you are just a monster and you will remain as such, and you will never be able to change yourself back, it is too late for you¡±


    While Arlom was ignoring that voice in his own head that was still mocking him, he stood up and took a red bottle from the thin air and emptied its contains of the bottle over Cyan, this was a dark red liquid potion, one of this could regrown limbs and heal all of his wounds, this will be enough to heal Cyan wounds back to top condition, but it would be painfully, nevertheless he dropped yet another red bottle in Cyan mouth making him drink it, still unconscious, Cyan body still manage to drink the potion.


    After seeing that Cyan was out the danger zone, Arlom could let out a sigh of relief, he thought that maybe his other self would try out something while he was taking care of Cyan wounds.


    Standing up and turning around, this time Arlom was facing¡­ himself.


    The calm and serious expression that he had before was back, that expression where he was ready to kill someone, but that face also had another meaning, it meant he was ready to die too for something he believe in, better to die as a man, that live like a monster, those were Arlom honest thoughts.


    [Arlom]: ¡°The only thing that doesn¡¯t want me to change¡­ it is you¡±


    [Dark-Arlom]: ¡°So you realized it now? Even if you are able to see me now, you will never able to beat me in a fight¡±


    With his arms crossed and a mocking smiled, what was in front of Arlom was a shadow of himself, it has the same form as Arlom, but he was completely black in the outside as well as the insides.


    [Arlom]: ¡°We will know after I beat you¡±


    Dark-Arlom could only shook his face, that was plastered with a villainous smile, that made you think, that he was borderline crazy, no, this smile was the same as the monster king had too, it make you wonder if all the monsters in this forest possess the same crazed smile.


    It was a little sooner than Dark-Arlom expected or wanted, but it was not that big of a deal, he still had the winning hand, he had grew stronger than Arlom over the years, so he was very confident that he will win this battle with ease, and then, he will go teach that stupid boy over there, what pain truly meaning was.


    That boy has foiled part of this plans, but it was nothing that a good beating to Arlom couldn¡¯t solve, he was planning to take his sweet time before for this battle to occur to take over Arlom body, but, ¡®whatever I just have to beat him¡¯


    Even if Arlom still hold a shred of humanity left in him, the end was already decided since long ago, Arlom was just living in borrowed time, it was already a miracle that he has come back to his senses once before, and he would not allow a next time.


    [Dark-Arlom]: ¡°HAHAHHA! Then Stupid King, come, that I am your end, come and become what you had always could had being¡­ the true Monster King¡±

 Chapter 15: Mon

    Chapter 15: Mon


    [Cyan]: ¡°Mon!¡±


    Cyan woke up jumping out his bed


    ¡®Was that a dream too?¡¯


    Was his only thought, Cyan has experience a lot of weird dreams lately, so he was putting in question his sanity, with a small ¡®sigh¡¯ and a ¡®whatever¡¯ Cyan stood from his bed.


    Again all of his wounds and broken bones were gone like last time, but this time, the feeling was different from before, his body was feeling a little stiff, it was not the perfect recover from a few hours ago.


    Looking around he could see that he was back to his room in the wooden house, the first time he used this room, it was just a box with nothing inside, only a rock that formed a horrible bed to sleep in, but now his ¡®bed¡¯ was a proper one.


    It was made of hides pile one over the other, even if he technically was still sleeping over the floor the difference between rocks and hides is the difference between light a day, a weary smile escape Cyan lips, just as he was wondering what happened to his Master, a growling sound escape his stomach. ¡®Kid how many times I had to remember it you, eat something already¡¯.


    It was way past the time to eat and Cyan had no feed his stomach since this morning, so it was reclaiming his right to eat at proper times, just before he got a heavy injury so he let Cyan sleep but now it was dinner time, 8 hours has passed since he was knock out unconscious.


    After having missed the lunch, he did not plan to miss dinner too, after having recover somewhat as well as Cyan, he kindly reminded him that he have not eaten anything at all since this morning.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I guess I should be eating something now¡±


    Cyan room was in the second floor, after exiting his room, and looking over the hallway, it was as empty as his room, there was no decorations what so ever or anything that you could find in a normal house, no pictures or paintings, Cyan never had took the time to look around him, but when he did, he notice what was so wrong about this house.


    [Cyan]: ¡°It is totally empty of anything a proper house should, sigh¡±, the only things in this house where, the floor, the walls, and the celling, well you can also count 3 doors and stairs to move between floors and maybe the windows, maybe Cyan could something about this in the future but for now it was just a mere thought,


    Leaving behind the empty hallway, Cyan descended to the first floor where the kitchen was.


    [Cyan]: ¡°It smells delicious¡±


    Another growling sound has come out of his stomach like he was agreeing with him ¡®It is, so better hurry¡¯.


    Apart for the rest of the house, the kitchen did had chairs and a table and a furnace that worked very well and did not produce any smoke, even if there was 2 floors the house was not that big, so having a kitchen, a living room, as well as a dinner room, was asking too much.


    Arlom was preparing the food in the furnace, while giving his giving his back to Cyan, but he clearly understood that Cyan was behind him.


    Cyan didn¡¯t know if Arlom has manage to defeat his inner demons, and because he was giving his back at him he could not look Arlom to the eyes and see it for himself, if that shadow was still there, clouding his vision.


    After a few good minutes of Cyan just standing there, it was Arlom turn to break the ice between them.


    [Arlom]: ¡°That stomach of yours is truly amazing, even after receiving a punch from me, it can still keep such accurate track of time, even if I was holding myself back a little, I must say it, I am very impress of yours skills¡­ son¡±


    Arlom was afraid of facing Cyan right now but, he can¡¯t delay this forever, he needs to face Cyan one way or another.


    Arlom turning around, Cyan could now see him into the eyes, they were¡­


    [Cyan]: ¡°sigh, Father, your eyes are so clear now, that shadow from before is gone, you had finally come back to your senses¡±


    Letting out a sigh of relief Cyan could see that, Arlom eyes were back to his old self, at least, back to an Arlom that was not blind about the true, the danger he felt before, now was gone, he could breathe a sigh of relief over and over again.


    Arlom, could only shook his head, it was too soon to be called his father, and that time may never arrive either.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Son, I don¡¯t deserve to be called Father of anyone, just call whatever you want but that¡±.


    This was a free pass Arlom was giving Cyan to unload all of his anger for being called stupid over and over again, even if Cyan understood Arlom intentions, he could not insult his¡­


    [Cyan]: ¡°I can¡¯t do that Master; I will keep calling you Master then, until you earn your title of interplanetary Stupid Father¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I understand, but can¡¯t we just leave the father part and left everything else out?¡±


    Cyan shook his head.


    [Cyan]: ¡°it can¡¯t be Master, you need to be my Father in two worlds, and it is the only way for me to recognize you as my Father¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I...I understand¡±


    How could Arlom no understand something as simple as that? This was the way of Cyan was saying


    ¡®Maybe we can¡¯t be Father and Son right now, but we can still be Master and disciple, and after we leave this planet and we go to earth, then I will call you my Father again¡¯ but he still don¡¯t know where the ¡®Stupid¡¯ part fits in all that, nevertheless Cyan will not back down.


    Cyan nodded his head, his Master truly was easy to deal with, and if you say things in a straight forward faction he will response you the same way.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Yes Master?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°You asked me before what was your Mother name, it was Cyan¡±.


    [Cyan]: ¡°It was?¡±


    Arlom nodded his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°She gave you her name after you were born and she became a no named person after that¡±.


    [Cyan]: ¡°No named? Master could not she just given me another name?¡±


    A no named person? That was strange, should not her still carry her own name too?


    Arlom shook his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°That was the stronger name in her possession, and without thinking it twice she gave it to you to protect you¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Protect me from what? Master did she do something foolish?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°She was¡­ a big fool after all, and I loved her more than anything else in this world, no, I still do, she was the most beautiful fool I ever got to know, and I was very stupid to leave her side even for a second, it can only be said that you mother and father were a fool and stupid, sigh¡±


    Cyan was stunned, so his master was a fool and his father stupid, what hope did he have to do any better? Nevertheless the smile his Master was putting out was a refreshed and stupid smile, like a teen boy would make after falling in love with someone for the first time. That was the type of stupidity his father had.


    Cyan could only sigh to this Master of his.


    [Arlom]: ¡°She was someone that would think of others before herself, she was protecting you from her own family, they were such despicable bunch that she had run away from, when she was just fifteen¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°She had run away from her house at the same age as me? How despicable her family must has being for that Master?¡±


    Arlom shook his head, and remained in silence, there was no point in using his word to talk about them, if he could helped.


    [Cyan]: ¡°So it was like that, I guess Mon did a good job by hiding me in other planet then¡±


    Cyan was having a more clear picture of this world now, in a world of names, history¡¯s and laws, he was sure that being a no name was not something good to be, but he was also beginning to understand why his father was calling his mother a fool that he fall in love with, she was the type of fool that would in front of other to protected them form harm¡¯s way.


    [Arlom]: ¡°At that time, I didn¡¯t know you were even in her belly, because I was away for months helping out some friends with an invasion of monsters to their village, sigh, at the very end they were the same ¡®friends¡¯ that betrayed me and throw in here¡±


    Cyan took notice of a key word from Arlom talk, ¡®monster? As true monsters and not humans turn into monsters?¡¯, nevertheless it was not the time to ask him about the other ¡®races of this planet, he could take a wild guess that, ¡®humans¡¯ were not the only race in here, and he would not be wrong.


    [Cyan]: ¡°It is not your own fault Master, I am sure you did everything in your power to protect Mon too¡±.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I don¡¯t need for you to cheer me up anymore Cyan, I know what I did, and what I didn¡¯t, power huh, yes you can say I tried with all my power and failed miserable, Cyan true strength doesn¡¯t come from your muscles or how fast you can move, but how you use your brain, you got that? And also, Cyan how did notice the true? Didn¡¯t you have a family in your world? Didn¡¯t you have a father and a mother already? If you go by logic and so many unknowns it should be impossible to deduce that you are my son¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°I have them and I want to go back to them as soon as possible, but in fact I wasn¡¯t that sure Master, I was not moving guided by logic, something else had told that if I don¡¯t move to save you right that instant, it would be too late, this was the chance with the highest chances of success, and the more I waited the less your changes of defeating that monster would be, also there were Mon eyes and name, so I could see some things inside your eyes¡±.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Hum, maybe you were moving by intuition then?¡±


    Cyan shook his head side to side


    [Cyan]: ¡°I don¡¯t think that was the case Master, my intuition allows me to sense danger, but not seen it, and my eyes allows to see the hidden true, it was more like, I was guided by something beyond that, I don¡¯t know how to explain it¡±.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Then don¡¯t, there is no point in trying to explain something you don¡¯t understand¡­ yet¡±


    Cyan nodded his head, there were something other things he wanted to know.


    Making a pause Cyan organized his thoughts.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master this name Mon gave me, is more than just a name it isn¡¯t? Like Serah¡¯s name that allowed me to understand the language, Mon name and eyes, it allows me to understand the true reflected in the eyes of other people¡±


    Arlom nodded ¡®sigh it was foolish thing to try to hide thigs from you after all¡¯


    [Arlom]: ¡°The power of names changes from person to person, but your Mother power was something like that too, and her eyes were a particular trait of her, after combing with her name, it was truly a powerful¡­ tool¡±


    Arlom continued to explaining Cyan how the names words in this world. To Cyan surprise, names were not just a label you would use to call someone else.


    When you are born into this world you are born nameless, someone else will give a name, be your mother or father, and be by sharing their own name, gifting a name with power in their possession or giving you a powerless name, basically creating a new name just for you.


    Cyan name was a little bit especial, when his Mother was born, she already had that name with her, and those names are known as hero¡¯s names, some people say that they are the reincarnated hero¡¯s from the past, that come back to protect humans from grave dangers, and nobody can steal a hero¡¯s name that you were born with, nevertheless you can still gifted it, or also be forced into gifting it.


    But those names also hold an incredible powers, and there were also some who believed that those names were gifted by the gods to a few chosen humans of their liking, and who would be so stupid enough, to offend something as powerful as a god just to steal a single name, or even more, who has the enough capability to beat someone with a hero name in the first place and then force it to gifting their own names.


    It was not better to just die with your own name, than dying as a no name?


    And those who had a hero name, were rather famous for choosing death over having their own names stolen, they were fiercely obstinate over that regard, it was just a ludicrous thought, to steal a hero name.


    But there was always exceptions to the rules in the universe, no, rules that are nearly absolute exists, they are known as laws, humans own laws, were just a cheat imitation something as unbreakable as a law, but nevertheless, laws also have exceptions that can be exploited.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    After you willing gifted that your name hero to somebody else, for example¡­ your own son, then, that name can also be stolen from him like any other name, and the way to steal the name, was very simple, it was a ludicrous thought not to try it out, and there was not a case of a god that has protected someone with a gifted hero name, they doesn¡¯t care who gets the names after the first person, those known as the second gen, were truly a great finding for those with power that wanted even more.


    It was then, when the obstinacy of choosing death, over having their own name stolen of those carrying a hero¡¯s name has come back to bite them, they just had to kill the person that is carrying a gifted hero name and like any other name, his name would be all theirs to use and exploit.


    Entire clans have meet their doom, after being wipe up by the same members, after someone had obtained a hero name of their own.


    No, a stolen or gifted hero¡¯s name was more like a curse in disguised than a blessing for some.


    And it was the reason why the family of Cyan Mon was after her, even after running away at the aged of fifteen they were always looking for her, and after they had found her, and knowing somehow about her child, they had come with intentions of ¡®reconciliation¡¯ and begging to be ¡®forgiven¡¯, to become a true family for the child, Cyan Mon was truly foolish for trusting them.


    But Cyan could not bring himself to hate that foolish Mother of his, he was a fool like her, he would jump to save strangers in a park, and he would also give another change to a family that don¡¯t deserve it, she had also gave her name to protect him, this was the same as criticizing the person that had saved your life, he was grateful, but at the same he was sad.


    Nevertheless this was something of big importance to him right now; even if he didn¡¯t want to keep talking about depressing topics of why his mother was not more with them, but¡­


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, does that mean that my name can be stolen by someone else?¡±


    Actually there was another way to lose your name, more than fighting for it, after all not everyone was a crazy person wanted to fight all the time.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Your name can be stole by outright killing you and taking your name, or by betting it, lose the bet and you lose the name¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Wait who can judge in a bet for a name?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°All names are recognized by the gods, they are the judges in case you bet your name, but the worst thing you can be in this planet is a no named person, never bet in your Mother name Cyan¡±


    Cyan nodded his head; of course he will never bet the only thing his Mother has left him, dying was also out of the question.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, Mon, she, why she gave me her name knowing it would be bad for her being a no named¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I only can guess she thought it was for the best way of protecting you, the idea was to share both of ours names with our first children if we ever got one, but because I was not there, I guess she did what she did to protect you, there is also¡­ we don¡¯t how you ended in another planet, however there must a explication to this, also I already shared my name with you, when you were unconscious, even if is just half my name it should be of help to you, I am sorry if it is 30 or even 15 years too late for that Cyan¡±


    Cyan shook his head


    [Cyan]: ¡°What are you saying Master? This is the time when I need it the most; thank you very must for your gift¡±


    Cyan said that while doing a bowing to his Master, everything he could get, would help him to stay alive, how can¡¯t be happy about it.


    Arlom was a little embarrassed but...


    Arlom could only let of a sigh of relief, he was a afraid that Cyan would reject his name, after all, he had seen part of his true colors, so, this is why he did this while Cyan was sleeping, so Cyan could not refuse it, even if Cyan himself don¡¯t wanted his name, Arlom would do anything to protect him, even if Cyan himself don¡¯t understand this, nevertheless his fears were unfunded at the end.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master what kind of powers your name has?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°You will have to find out yourself, it is best if I don¡¯t tell you¡±.


    Cyan pondered for a bit, what was the meaning of hiding the effects of a name? Shouldn¡¯t Arlom tell him out right so he can start understanding it?


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, It has to do something with my understandings of it is right? If you tell me what your own understanding of it is, it will not help me at all right?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Something like that, but mostly because my understandings of it are¡­ very lacking¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°I understand, and Master thank you for sharing your name with me¡±


    Cyan was bowing to his Master now to show his thanks to him


    [Arlom]: ¡°You don¡¯t have to thank for sharing with you my name, that¡¯s is my job, as¡­ a Fa¡­, as your Master, I also gave you other names but before you thank me for those, I never learned what they do, so it will be up to youif they are any help¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°I understand, Master there is something I don¡¯t understand, if Mon has another names with her, why she had become a no named? Couldn¡¯t she just call herself with another name?¡±


    Cyan took the opportunity to sit down on his usual char while doing that question


    Arlom shook his head, this, disciple of him as not learned anything at all, turning around Arlom put the food over the table


    [Arlom]: ¡°Being a no named is when someone has lost his main name, this is different of being nameless, the first name you are given is your main name, while you still have your main name, you can use any of the other names you have, but if you were to lose it, any name you say your name was, would be understood literally as no-name, this is the same with names that you don¡¯t had while still having a main name¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°So it is like the first day we meet, I could understand your name was, even if I could not understand anything else, the same thing happen with Serah name¡±


    Arlom nodded his head


    [Arlom]: ¡°If you still have your main name when you die, your remaining names will fuse with your main name and then it will be completely transferred between the persons that you have share your name with, that¡¯s why people, form powerful clans under a banner name, even if you mother has¡­ passed away at the end, she had completely given up all her names to you anyway since the beginning, after giving you her main name there was no point in her having others names¡±


    Arlom shook his head with sad expression and a bitter smile.


    [Arlom]: ¡°What she did was truly foolish but¡­ If I were to be there, I too would have done exactly the same thing she did, sigh... I am such a failure as a father¡±


    The mood in the room got really depressed now, but luckily, what interrupted this depressing atmosphere with an impeccable timing was¡­ ¡®Hey did you forgot a about me? I am hungry, come on feed me, you had forgot about me, both of are stupid¡¯s, like father like son¡¯, a growling sound that has come from Cyan stomach.


    Scratching is cheek with his right hand, Cyan face could not help but to become a little red, ¡®what an embarrassing thing to happen when the mood was so serious¡¯


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cough cough, we should eat something now¡±


    After Cyan notice the food that was in front him, he too took notice of the pills at the side of the food, he soon realized he had forgot something else and stood up from his chair again like lighting.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master the poison!¡±


    Should not be the pain poison acting up? It has being several hours from the food of the morning, and he has not taken the suppressor for the poison.


    Arlom was sitting in front of him and was calming eating.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Calm down, I already gave you the antidote when you were unconscious so you could sleep, and also the poison effects only last for about 8 hours, so it effects should had already passed anyway¡±.


    Letting sigh of relief Cyan sited down again.


    [Cyan]: ¡°So it was like that, thank you Master, also thank you for taking me to my room, I was very tired to do it myself¡±


    Arlom face grew stiff, ¡®of course you were, who do think beat you to a pulp before or is that you are just pretending that nothing of that happen?¡¯


    Even if that was Arlom wanted to say he could only reply back with a¡­


    [Arlom]: ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, I am your Master after all, I need to take care of my disciple, let¡¯s eat for now¡±


    This time again the same pills that this morning were at the side of the food, and eat them right away, after that, looking over the food Cyan stillcould not identify what kind of animal was he eating but, it tasted like chicken, so he called it chicken, and it was very tasty.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Oh right Master, it would not be weird if you gotten a daughter named after you, she would be called Arlom, it is not that a man name? Would not people make fun of her? ¡±


    Cyan was curious about how the ¡®System¡¯ in this world worked, ¡®what if I don¡¯t like the name I have? Like a woman¡¯s name, or man name for woman, Or also, what if everyone has the same name at the end, there are not enough names with power to go around right? Can¡¯t I change my name later on?¡¯


    Looking over the face Cyan was putting, he could guess what he was thinking after all, one of Cyan weak points was... his face and eyes, and they reflected everything that was inside of that brain of his.


    His disciple was not using his head as usual.


    [Arlom]: ¡°A name is something recognized by a god, discarding a god name or mocking it, it is the same as insulting thegods behind that name, who would dare to? But, you can be named as anyway you feel liked it, and then make a god recognized as your own name, and also, are you the one to talk about being wrongly named? Cyan, would you change your mother name?¡±


    Cyan face grew red, was not is mother a woman, then he have a woman name right?


    [Cyan]: ¡°That was a little harsh master making fun of me using Mon name you are so low¡±


    While Cyan was eating the food he was pondering about it, ¡®if it can be understood that Cyan is my name in whatever language I am talking, then was I, really translating their names into my native language?¡¯


    Cyan looked to his feet¡¯s, trying to figure something out, ¡®my understanding of it is the same, no matter the world, gravity feel it the same, just like¡­ a law?¡¯


    A flash of inspiration passed over Cyan mind.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master... laws are the same in the whole universe, then... are Names laws too?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Now you are using that brain of yours, that¡¯s right, like law of gravity there is the law of names, and that¡¯s why only beings with enough understandings of laws can name themselves or others, without needing a god to recognized their names¡±


    Cyan was shocked by the beings knows as gods, but now there were some persons with enough understanding of laws as the gods? Are no those gods also? This planet was just getting more mysterious as time goes on, beings that could understand laws, and name others as the pleased?


    [Cyan]: ¡°But Master in my home planet everyone can name themselves as they pleased, there is some legal hurdles to overcome but after that you would be legally named after the name of your own choosing¡±


    Cyan could not still get rid of his own common sense but it was getting crushed as the time went on, it would not be soon, before Cyan things something as walking in the air as ¡®normal¡¯.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Then I can only assume that everyone in your home planet is a god above the law of names? But I don¡¯t think it is like that, I don¡¯t know how you ended in other planet but your name remained the same didn¡¯t?


    What was the history of Cyan got his name? Of course he asked about it, the reply he got is that, it was because the colors of his eyes, but what that right? He didn¡¯t now, for now, it would only remain as mystery.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I can only assume that the god of earth planet has done something to alter the understanding of the humans of earth planet, I don¡¯t know, maybe he wants to prevent another god to be born? Or is the contrary?¡±


    Like always Arlom could only give up, trying to understand the mind of a god was a pointless task, when he can became one he will think about it again, but for now, it was best to taught Cyan about the laws and how to stay alive.


    [Arlom]: ¡°A name is law, but your interpretation and understandings of it, changes from person to person, in a boy my name it would remain the same, but in a girl it can be change to fit a girl name, and still a godwould recognized that name, and you still would understand it as her name¡±.


    [Cyan]: ¡°But can¡¯t I lie and say that my name is other than my name? Isn¡¯t there a way to check somebody else name? How can people know that I am no named or nameless.¡±


    ¡®Can it be? Can there be the legendary¡­ status screen?¡¯


    Arlom shook his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°How do you check for gravity?¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°I don¡¯t need to check for it¡­, if there is gravity I will be pull to the ground and if there is not gravity then I will know it too, then a name is the same?¡±


    Arlom nodded again.


    [Arlom]: ¡°That¡¯s right, there is no need to check, you can give any of your sub names as your name and will still be understood as your name, and it will be still interpreted as such, but if you lose your main name or give a name that doesn¡¯t belong to you, no matter how the other person interpreted it, it only would be understood as no-name, or nameless in case that you didn¡¯t have any name to begin with¡±


    Now Cyan was only getting more confuse. All this interpretations and understandings were hurting his brain.


    Arlom could see the confuse face of Cyan, letting a sigh he tried to come with an example.


    [Arlom]: ¡°If I say my name Arlom (name), you would interpreted as Arlom, and you would understand it as my name, but if say my name is Cyan (no-name) you would Interpreted as Cyan but you would understand it as no-name, because I don¡¯t have that name, if I say my name is the hunter king (name) you will understanding it as my name too, because titles and professions also can become your own name¡±.


    Cyan let of a sigh, ¡®what a letdown I thought there would be status screens¡¯


    [Cyan]: ¡°So that¡¯s to say you can¡¯t lie because it would be catch right away, if only gods can recognized a name how most the people do?¡±


    Arlom nodded his head; at least Cyan was using his brain.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Most people in planet Athem only have powerless names, only royalty, heroes and wealthy families would have a power name, but there is exception, a title or profession recognized by a god can also become your power name, like farmer or weapon smith¡±


    Arlom was trying to explain Cyan the very basic of how... the laws of names worked, while they were eating.


    [Arlom]: ¡°For example by becoming the apprentice of black smith, if you say that as your name it would understood as such, so most people try to get a profession early on, to get rid of their nameless state, nevertheless professions and titles cannot be gifted or stolen, but only bestowed¡±


    After such long explication most of Cyan understanding of the social status of this planet and laws of name has become a little clearer, but he still have a lot of unanswered questions.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master¡­.Why my name remained the same and not change to fit a boy name?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Because your mother wished to be so, maybe it was for me to find you, without that name I would having very hard time to even start searching for it¡±.


    ¡®So Mon gave her name, not only to protected but for you to be able to find me too sigh¡¯.


    Even if Cyan didn¡¯t wanted to ask, he has to do it, he has to know


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master¡­ Mon family they¡­ they had killed her right?¡±


    Arlom that holding a fort was broken in two with a snap, the knife broke the plate in two, digging itself into the wooden table, the anger in Arlom eyes was apparent to everyone to see, but this was anger was not against Cyan but something that looked very afar.


    Nevertheless Arlom calmed down his beating angry heart, if he could he would kill that entire clan, but he had to find Cyan first, now he only needs to escape this forest alive with Cyan, and play their dear relatives a visit.


    [Arlom]: ¡°They did and I will never forgive them, I will hunt them down until the last man, the first time they hold your Mother hostage, so I could not just wipe them out, the I was busy searching for you, after I exit this forest I will pay them a visit¡±


    Arlom was putting the most evil smile ever, had the monster come back? No, Cyan could not felt any danger coming from Arlom.


    Letting out a sigh, Arlom face was now back to his calm and compose expression.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Your Mother is not here to stop now, but¡­ if you tell me not to go, I will let them go¡±


    Cyan could not reply back to Arlom, this was asking Cyan, if he was willing to forgive them, no, not forgiven them, but just not go seeking a bloody vendetta on that family.


    Cyan soul knew that his decision would doom the life of a bunch of people that he didn¡¯t know, but it was the same as murderer, he didn¡¯t wanted to be a murder, but looking how badly Arlom wanted to kill them all, how he could easily say don¡¯t go Arlom, don¡¯t dirty your hands with their blood, how could he block Arlom bloody path.


    No, this was just an excuse Cyan was putting to himself, of course he also wanted them to be death, every one of those monster that had taken away his family. Don¡¯t you want them too, to suffer twice, no, three times the pain that Arlom was carrying? Don¡¯t you want them to be destroyed by their own sings? I am sure even their children should be already a lot cause, they should be also be target of justice, this is of course, justice taking his natural course of action, Arlom is an ally of justice in his path to slay the dragon, a hero, and them are just a monster that only deserve to be put to death, all of them, this is what justice is all about


    ¡®s...stop¡¯


    Hum? What¡¯s that? I can hear you boy.


    [Cyan]: ¡°STOP!!!¡±


    Cyan was shaking now, what was that voice that was talking directly to his brain, he knew it, but he didn¡¯t wanted to admit it, that he also wanted them¡­ ¡®ALIVE I WANT THEM ALIVE! SO SHUT IT¡¯


    Cyan has jumped of his chair screaming to the stop of his lungs to Arlom, to stop, his breathing was ragged and was having troubling to keep breathing, on the other side of the table, Arlom could get a clear picture of Cyan feeling.


    Letting out a sigh Arlom could only admit defeat, was Cyan being just a fool? Yes, he was, but fools also have another name in this forest, just like his Mother, Cyan was being a human.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Sigh, I understand, I will not look after them, but if they come knocking on my door again, I will not be a carpet that they can step on, as such¡­ It is better no to talk about them, because to them¡­ we are as good as dead... it is better to never let them know we are alive, do you understand? Huh Cyan are you ok?¡±


    Cyan face was pale, but he managed to spit a response to Arlom question


    [Cyan]: ¡°I a.., I am ok¡­ I understand... Master¡±


    ¡®What was that?¡¯ calming his breathing, Cyan could sit down again.


    He felt he was being taking over by something, so dark, so disgusting, that he felt dirty right now and wanted to take a shower, as also he wanted to throw up but his stomach had not allowed it.


    Luckily he could hide this episode from Arlom, it was just an instant for Arlom, but to Cyan it had lasted a lot longer, he had entered that slow down world again, everything had frozen up, even Cyan himself could not move, and that dark, creepy voice started to talk to him, and worse than all, that voice sounded¡­ just like himself, it seems the monster king had given him more than that a few gifts.

 Chapter 16: Status screen, inventory and Names

    Chapter 16: Status screen, inventory and Names


    Cyan choose to forget everything about that episode and keep eating his food.


    After Cyan finished the rest of his food and had calmed down, he could not help to ask his master what was next.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master are we going to keep training before going to sleep?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea, you were¡­ pretty beat up, even with potions your body should be feeling stiff, it is better for you to rest, we will carry on with the training tomorrow morning¡±


    Cyan could only nod his head, he was a little glad, after being hurt so badly he didn¡¯t wanted to move around for the rest of the day


    [Cyan]: ¡°I understand, by the way Master, how can I know what other names do I have with me? Should there be a way right?¡±


    Arlom nodded his head, he was planning to tell him this next.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I believe it is better that you don¡¯t use you main name so lightly, unless you are planning to not let the other party alive, the case with the monster king, well, it is too late to regret that¡±.


    That name, monster king, every time he hear it, his fear to that name only grew more and more, but he still tried to hide this fact to Arlom.


    [Arlom] ¡°You already told him your main name, but he should not be telling anyone else, it would kill his fun if he did that, now, to know what other names do you have, you only need to ask the gods about them¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Ask the gods? Can we even talk to the gods? How can I ask them? Can they even understand me? Or hear me?¡±


    Arlom could understand Cyan train of thought, being that were about all, and nobody understand even a tiny bit of them, of course you would be asking a lot of questions of them, this was normal human curiosity.


    [Arlom]: ¡°The gods are pretty much the rulers of this world Cyan, it should be the same in your world, what they said goes, you only need to say the key word [name] to see what other names you have with you¡±


    [name] and name were being pronounced differently, but in Cyan mind, it was understood in the same way, the automatic translation was working against him this time around, he could almost not notice they were different, if not for that¡­ [name] was being said in an language from planet earth, even if he didn¡¯t know a lot words of this language, it was definitely a language spoken in a country back in earth.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, what is the difference between saying, name and [name]¡­¡±


    Before he could continue, a blue flash had appeared in front of him, ¡®Could it be¡¯, with sparling eyes Cyan turned to look at the new blue shining screen, only to felt a little bit of regret later.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    [Main Name]:


    </td>


    <td>


    Cyan


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    [Names]:


    </td>


    <td>


    Albert


    Juliet


    Unknown (shadow)


    Hero¡¯s Candidate (sealed)


    Serah


    Stupid


    Interplanetary Traveler


    Hunter King Disciple


    Arlom


    [Unknown]


    [Unknown]


    [Unknown]


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    After reading the list of names, Cyan was getting angry at the supreme gods, ¡®what is this! Is the god calling me stupid! When I find out who is the one that had recognized me with this name, I will give him a good beating¡¯


    It was good that the ¡®gods¡¯, were not omnipotent beings, that could read the mind of people, If a god could read Cyan thoughts right now, probably a lighting would be on his way to Cyan, as gods had theirway to deal with people that look down on them or insult them, after all.


    Having calm down a little bit, Cyan could only try to examine the names in a more detailed fashion, and it seems that he could interact with this blue window.


    After selecting his own name a new blue screen has pop up with a resume.


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Cyan (Hero¡¯s Name, 2<sup>nd</sup> Generation)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The name your mother gave you when you were just born, so, it had belong since that time, it was her main name and she was born with it, she gave it to you to protect you before she die at the hands of their own family.


    +5 Wisdom


    +5 Intelligence


    +10 Defense


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Eyes of true (passive)]: Nobody can hide the true from your eyes, one look and the walls of lies will crumble before you.


    [Unknown (Lock)]: The full power of your name is locked, until you learn more of the history of your Mother.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Could only let out a sigh, all that the name description was saying, was something he already knew, what¡¯s more, the name was hitting him that, there were more to his mother history than that he already knew, nevertheless something else has caught up his attention.


    ¡®Wait the names give me skills and status points?¡¯


    Cyan could not help to ask his Master about it.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, does this world really doesn¡¯t have any status screen?¡±


    Arlom could only shook his head, he didn¡¯t know Cyan was talking about


    [Arlom]: ¡°I don¡¯t anything about that Cyan, why do you ask?¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°When I said [name] a blue screen has shown up itself, with a list of all the names I have¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about; when you say [name] you will know them instinctively¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°So it was like that, then if said [status]¡±


    A new blue screen appeared in front of Cyan, ¡®Yes, the legendary status screen!¡¯, but nothing today was going the way Cyan wanted.


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    [Status]


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The Status screen is sealed


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Now, Arlom was wondering what Cyan was doing, after saying [name], he was looking to the air like a stupid kid, and now he was getting angry to the air, and moving his hands around, ¡®that stupid kid is back to doing stupid things again, sigh¡¯


    But Cyan has just saying something that has caught up Arlom attention.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Hum? Just now what was that word [status]?¡±


    After Arlom said that he went mute, it seems it worked for him too, after he said [status] he just closed his eyes, like he has remember something inside his mind, it seems it was working different for him, there was not a blue screen for him but like he said, he knew his status by instincts?.


    Cyan instinctively knew, what had just happen, it seems it only works if you said it in a language from earth language, and because nobody knew what the word for [status] was in this planet nobody knew about it, truly stupid.


    ¡®This is so unfair, why mine is sealed, and yours not, sigh, forget it, I don¡¯t think Master would even know what this seal is when he didn¡¯t even knew that there were an [status] screens, sigh, for now let¡¯s just examine the other names¡¯


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Albert


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The butler, in your mother house that helped your mother escape her home when she was fifteen


    +1 Luck


    +1 Intelligence


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Etiquette (passive)]: Manners are important after all, even more when you run away from home.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Like Arlom has told him, his mother has ran away from home, and to do that she got help from other people from that house, ¡®it seems not everyone there are monsters after all¡¯, if he had not stopped Arlom¡­ how many¡­ ¡®No, it is better no to think about it¡¯, Cyan forcefully shut his train of thought and keep browsing the list of names.


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Juliet


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    A maid in your Mother house and her first true friend, with the help of Albert, she help to cover up your Mother escape, buying her enough time to get away.


    +1 Luck


    +1 Agility


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Friendship (passive)]: You know the true value of a friend, is easier for you to make a true friend were ever you go, proving that the see you as their friend too.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡®Huh? Juliet and Albert? Both names are somewhat similar, are they related?¡¯


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unknown


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    An unknown person that helped in your mother escape from her house, that person had shared his name with her, but nevertheless she never understood it because it was spoken in another language.


    [Unknown]


    [Unknown]


    +10 Shadow Affinity


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Unknown (Lock)]: Find out who was the shadow person that helped your mother escape if you want to unlock this skill.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡®Wait? What is this?¡¯ this part of the history was never told by Arlom, nevertheless it was clearly written in detailed fashion him here.


    It seems his mother has not only gave him his name, but somebody stranger name, and even knowledge of how she gained that name, but¡­


    ¡®Wait, didn¡¯t master say that names should be understood no matter how you interpreted, it would be understood as the name, I understood Arlom and Serah name after I meet them, but Mon could not understand somebody else name? Are no names laws? Should laws flawless? Are you playing with me? Sigh¡¯


    The explanation Cyan could come up was that the shadow guy, should be someone with enough understanding of the laws of names to be named by himself, but as soon Cyan thought that he denied that possibility, if that shadow has named himself using the law of names, his mother would still understood after he said his name, if both are using the same to understand names, there was not explication to understand anyone else name, unless.


    The second explanation Cyan has come up was, the shadow guy has named himself with something else that the law of names, but¡­ was there another law that was the same as the law of names?


    And even scarier thought as show up in Cyan mind.


    ¡®It should a law equal or above the laws of names¡¯


    Something above a law, that was a ludicrous thought, but Cyan could not shake out this feeling he was getting, for now he needs more clues, and the next clues was right before his eyes.


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Hero¡¯s Candidate (sealed)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You are one of the chosen candidates, picked by an angel of god from earth and transported to the world of Athem to carry on with a mission.


    Save the humanity from Athem that is facing the threat of extinction by the hands of the clan of demons, you will remain as a hero¡¯s candidate until you prove your worth and become a true hero, that the gods and the stars by with you.


    +10 All stats (sealed)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Unknown (sealed)]: A seal is still blocking all of your skills.


    [Unknown (sealed)]: A seal is still blocking your inventory slots.


    [Unknown (sealed)]: A seal is still blocking you status from viewing.


    [Name (passive)]: Names are laws, and it is impossible to get rid of them completely. You can list all of your available names and use the skills of such names, except the ones that are sealed, unknown or locked, if you break the seal, your sealed skills will become available to you.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡®Sigh, so it was like this, the gods and the stars huh, this is not something you would read all days, sigh¡¯


    The record for more sigh in a week was getting closer to Cyan now, each passing day was increasing it would not be long before Cyan the only thing he does is sighed all day long, at least it is something Cyan could picture himself doing.


    But this was not the clue he was looking for me, nevertheless it was still good information to have, at least he knows his origins, something he had already deduce with the help of Arlom early this day, truly stupid.


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Serah


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You don¡¯t know the history of Serah, tell Arlom to narrated her history


    [Unknown]


    [Unknown]


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Understand (passive)]: No matter the language you will able to understand it after you hear it and you will be able to speak it.


    [Unknown (Locked)]:You don¡¯t know the history of Serah


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡®I will hear your history Serah, I am sure Arlom remember very well his promise to tell me your history, wait a little more, sigh¡¯


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Stupid


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    A worthy name for a stupid person, what can I said, a stupid really have a good luck


    -1 Intelligence


    +2 Luck


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Unknown (Unknown)]: I am sure it is the stupidest skill everReading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    This was becoming an increasing long day to Cyan, this was the name he was the most angry for, but he skipped over it, he will not gave the pleasure to whomever is watching him to enjoy watching him getting angry to something so¡­ minor.


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Interplanetary Traveler (Crossroads)


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    You that had crossed worlds and crossroads, has be recognized by the hunter king like an interplanetary idiot, we gods can only comply to his wishes


    -1 Wisdom


    +2 Luck


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Interplanetary travel (passive)]: You are able to travel between worlds, if only you had a spaceship.


    [Unknown (passive)]: [Locked]


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡®These gods are only playing my by a fool!¡¯ Cyan was flipping imaginary tables over and over again, he had a skill that can travel between worlds? Are you joking with me? When he had read that first part he was stunned, only to read, ¡®if only you had a spaceship¡¯


    What kind of sick prank was this? Whom would have a spaceship to travel between worlds, even more if he had one, where he would go? He don¡¯t have a map of the starts, no, in this huge universe in what direction would earth even be? And then, there is also the second skill passive skill that was in unknown and locked, and the description, and the name says something about crossing roads? What road did he cross?


    ¡®Forget it, forget it, I will not give them what the what of me¡¯, this was too much for him to handle right now, and now the next name was something with more ¡®common sense¡¯ that was not insulting him or locked in a veil of mystery, a plain title that exactly said what it does, and what it is for, but, there were always a but in his life.


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Hunter King Apprentice


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The hunter king has taken you as his only disciple.


    +5 Agility


    +3 All stats


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Hunter instincts (passive)] You can feel the danger in your surroundings


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡®Sigh finally something that I can use, so this is why I was feeling danger when I was near Arlom, it was of really big help this time, but¡­ doesn¡¯t this meant that I have also became a hunter? At least in name?¡¯


    Looking over Arlom that was still with his eyes closed, Cyan choose to asked about this, in a later time, it was better to not interrupt Arlom right now, and his names was next, he was dying to see what bonus Arlom name has gave him.


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Arlom


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    After 30 years Arlom of search, your father has finally found you, after being in denial of his own sins, you open his closed eyes to the true, now Arlom has overcome his dark-self and has come back to the Arlom he was before, as a thank you he has shared with you his own name, to honor the broken promises of the past and his own selfish pride of being your Father.


    +10 All stats


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Unknown]: Your understanding of this name is, somewhat lacking


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Cyan could calm down now a little, his father was proud of him, even he didn¡¯t said, the name he as give him speak for himself, he was so proud of Cyan that he thought it was a honor for him to Cyan carry his name.


    He could now understand a little better the feelings that his stupid father doesn¡¯t shared with him, at least in the future Cyan would be more aware how his uncommunicative and selfish father felt.


    Cyan shook his head, after reading the description of his father name even if there were some blank spaces, he had calmed down a lot, and now he could think more clearly.


    Having finally arrived at the end of the list, Cyan had found out what he was looking, his next clue, the names Arlom has gave him that, Arlom himself didn¡¯t understood, they were¡­


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unknown X 3


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    An unknown name that Arlom has given you, you don¡¯t know what it does or from where it comes fromX 3


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Unknown (passive)] :[Unknown]


    [Unknown (active)] : [Unknown]


    [Unknown (unknown)] : [Unknown]


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡®I knew it, they are almost the same as the shadow guy that helped Mon before, even if a name is not completely understood, you could still understand the name itself, but as the same as the shadow guy name, these names are the same as that one¡¯


    Just in time Arlom opened his eyes with a somewhat angry face, however Cyan didn¡¯t mind this, he needs to ask his father about this names and how he got them, Arlom answer was something very estrange.


    [Arlom]: ¡°The first I got it when I was helping those ¡®friends¡¯ with the monster problem in his village, while I was there, some monster broke the defensive line at the back and surrounded us, it would truly had be my end if not, for a unknown man that had save us all that day, he had shown up from nowhere and was truly strong, he alone could handle almost all the surroundings monsters¡±


    Cyan was shocked ¡®you almost die? Hey hey, is this some tale you should be telling to your son with such passion and careless attitude with no hint of regret heh heh!?¡¯


    Arlom just ignore disciple reaction, he was in his zone, narrating an epic tale of his past, and if he could he would become a writer and write down all his tales, and earn his life income that way, instead of becoming a hunter with hands soaked in blood, truly a sad history.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I owned my life that day to that man, he had shown me how to become even stronger at that time, so I self-introduced myself to him as his trusted disciple!¡±


    ¡®Master can you not say that with that proud smile, sigh¡¯ It was something new to seen Arlom so¡­ happy, Arlom brain was definitely in his muscles and his brain was only for histories of the past.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Actually, I could not see his face because, it was cover by a black rope, nevertheless he only wave his hand and told gave me his name, at that time I thought it was a signal he was taking as his disciple, but after he only turned around and left without saying anything else, the funny part is that¡­ I could not understand that name even to this day, sigh, I asked around in the village but nobody knew about him¡±


    Arlom dropped his shoulders, it was sad to him to never be able to understand the name of the person that had save your life, and also indirectly teach you a way to become stronger, but, the strange part was not that it was¡­


    [Arlom]: ¡°The second and trier name history, hum it almost the same, I would be in a great danger, and some unknown person would show up without never showing up his face, save me and give a name that I would be unable¡­ to under¡­.¡±


    A lightbulb has light up inside Arlom mind, he was blind to this before, how it could be that he had never made this connection, no, someone has blinded him to make the connection since the beginning.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan¡­ did you think that¡±


    Cyan nodded his head.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I believed that¡¯s is the case Master, I think it was¡­ the same person, and no only that, that person has also saved Mon in the past too¡±


    Cyan proceeded to narrated Arlom about his other unknown name, it was something that his own wife had never told him before, like she had forgotten all about it too, this was too strange to even begin understanding it, why Arlom did not forgot? Of course because he would never forget about a history even his own brain fly away from his skull, he will the use his body to remember and if that doesn¡¯t word he will use his very to soul to remember forever.


    ¡®This is like¡­¡¯ before Cyan could end his train of though a ¡®ding¡¯ interrupted him and a blue screen has shown up in from of him.


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Find me, Unknown, Unknown


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    An unknown man has saved Arlom live three times in a row and gave him his name three times, his timing was too accurate to be just a coincidence, and you still don¡¯t know if this was the same Man that had saved your Mother in the past.


    +10 Intelligence


    [Unknown]


    [Unknown]


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Complete Resistance (passive)]: 10% Of reduction to any type of damage.


    [Unknown (active)]: (Sealed)


    [Unknown (unknown)]: [unknown]


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Cyan was almost falling on the floor, 10% of reduction to any damage? This was huge, 10% of less pain, cold, heat, was metal fatigue considered to be damage? Who cares, plus 10 points of intelligence? He felt himself becoming more intelligent after figuring this out, and all that put together was the biggest bonus he have got so far, but none of that matter.


    ¡®Find me¡¯, literally the name was just that, Find me, ¡®the hell, give me more clues, how I am supposed to find you, or if did you even stop to make the question, if I even will want to go looking for some weird shadow guy Todd, that doesn¡¯t even show his own face in the first place¡­ sigh¡¯


    It was obvious the other clues where in the other names, now the second name had shown a (sealed) label, it meant, he has now to look a way to get rid of this debuff, that sealed him, it was unknown from where this seal has come from and why it was put on own in the first place.


    But, removing or breaking his seal would be obviously what he do next. Cyan next movement was already decided for him even before he took one single step out, he was truly dancing in the palm of that shadow guy that was hiding in the shadows.


    Cyan felt his intelligent points decreasing after thinking that line.


    He was sure now¡­ that not only the gods were watching him and they were mocking him, but that there was an unknown person, that was seeding him messages in the most intricate way possible.


    This messages should had being prepared for how long? He needs to know when he would arrive from earth, to this place, that Arlom would need to be saved 3 times, left the clues each time, then wait for Cyan to show out and uncover clue after clue, and to be able to meet him, using those.


    That shadow guys needs to be a god, no, even a god would not be enough, he needs to be a god of gods, with a compression of the law of time above anyone else, everything he had done so far, was already predicted, trace, marked and accounted for, and even waited for, can he really choose something in his life? Are not his choices meaningless now?


    ¡äHero¡¯s candidate, an angel of god, so this is the plot after all and that shadow guy is the hidden plot, the true hidden boss, sigh¡¯


    The only way to foil the hidden boss plot was to¡­ of course, not move at all. He would just stay here and doing nothing, what was the point anyway.


    .


    .


    .


    [Arlom]: ¡°Did you finished looking like a Stupid? I must say, it was quite funny looking over the fast changes of your expression, from happiness to angry, then to happiness again only to change to sadness, to just plain stupidity¡±


    Cyan wanted to punch Arlom in the face, but he could only shake his head, Arlom was right just standing here and doing nothing it is not the answer.


    ¡®I knew there was plot, but, to be put so bluntly, and then that shadow guy, I feel like I am being toy with, but if I am a candidate, then are there any othercandidates?¡­ sigh, I really just want to go home now¡¯


    If this was already predestinated, if there was not changing it, if there was a fixed destiny, Cyan did not care anything of that, he will keep moving forward, it would be a stupid not to do so, no, maybe just doing nothing was what the shadow guy wanted him to do, he will not give him the pleasure of doing nothing.


    With a ¡®whatever¡¯ Cyan shrug off this matter from his mind.


    Arlom of the other hand, after realizing that it was the same guy that have save him three times; he new this was not a coincidence, but he has already gave those names to Cyan; maybe there were meant for Cyan since the beginning, nevertheless Arlom just shrug off this off his mind, the was not point in wasting time in thinking over this; like father like son.


    Looking around, he could see that Arlom was looking over him with his calm expression that he has almost always carry with him, latelythis calm expression of Arlom was present less and less, and was replace by the face of pity someone will have, after seeing a stupid person doing stupid things.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I have finish looking over my [name] list; it seems I do have quite some amount of names¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Then, let¡¯s hear them¡±


    Cyan face was cramming up, he could not say that one of those names was stupid, ¡®those gods will play some day, no, I will everyone that is responsible pay out for their sins, sigh¡¯


    [Cyan]: ¡°I got one that is Albert¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°You also got Juliet name too right?¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Yes, there is that one too¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°There is your name, Serah, and the 3 Unknown names, there is also, Hunter King disciple, and¡­ Hero¡¯s Candidate, it says, I was chosen by god to stop the extinction of humans on this world¡±


    Arlom shook his head


    [Arlom]: ¡°Of course you were, those gods, sigh, there are no more names we can use?¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°I am afraid there are not more names Master¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°I see¡±


    With a glint in his eyes, Arlom could understand that, the eyes of Cyan werea double edged sword, Cyan could detect lies with them but, It also stop Cyanfor being a good liar.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Trying saying that again, but this time, do it with your eyes close¡±


    Cyan was puzzled, what has to do his eyes with¡­. realizing that he was caught red handed that he was lying, Cyan could not help but to think, about the reason ¡®so my eyes can also tell when I am lying too, sigh what a curse¡¯


    Even without his eyes Cyanwas not good liar anyway, that¡¯s why when his friends asked, if he knew something about the masked hero, he would just say that he had forgotten something at home and run away at full speed without saying anything else.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I understand, there is also¡­ stupid, and¡­ interplanetary traveler¡±


    Arlom nodded his head, of course those two names would be there, those gods like to joke around too much, maybe they are bored of being a god, Arlom was thinking, that it was something important that he should be worried about, but, ¡®only an stupid would care to have those names¡¯


    On the other side of the table a ding! Sound, interrupted Cyan ¡®worried¡¯ face


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Name upgrade: Stupid King Candidate


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    After a lot of debate, with the recent change in opinion of the Hunter King Arlom, we had made the choice to make you a Stupid king candidate, keep up the good work.


    -5 Intelligence


    +10 Luck


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Unknown(passive)]: You are in the race for becoming a king now, after you win this skill will be know


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Cyan wanted to flip the table but, his master was still in front of him, if he did something stupid, he was sure his title will change again, he could hear the god laugh at this back right now.


    With a force smile Cyan asked something he would soon regret


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master is there a Stupid King?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Never hear of it, Cyan, good luck in becoming the first¡±


    Arlom could see as clear as day that the gods where mocking Cyan, but this align with his self-taught education program for Cyan, make Cyan angry until he hits his limits and then teach Cyan self-control, only like this he would not end like Arlom.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Now, it has being a long day, go back to your room and rest, I will clean the table, tomorrow we will resume the training¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master will you really teach me how to use mana?"


    [Arlom]: "Of course"


    The reply of Arlom as come with the same ''look'' in his eyes, Cyan could feel something was amiss but he could not put his finger in it, so he just chose to forget about it.


    [Cyan]: "oh right, before I forget, Master is there any inventory in this world, you are always taking things out of thin air like this and like this¡±.


    Cyan was now mirroring how Arlom took things from the air, Arlom onother hand was, just shaking his head, the action of Cyan were truly worthy of a candidate to the title stupid king, but he has teased Cyan enough fortoday, it is better to stop for now.


    [Arlom]: ¡°You are indeed correct your highness, there is an inventory system in this world but you need one this to use it¡±


    Arlom could not stop himself of mocking Cyan a little bit, taking out a bag he passed it on to Cyan, the bagdid not feel heavy nor light, opening it up, he could only see darkness, like is there was nothing inside it, not even light could enter it.


    [Arlom]: ¡°They are crazy expensive, and not a lot people have it, I only have that one that, I took it from somebody that was after my head¡±


    Cyan shook his head.


    [Cyan]: ¡°This is not what I meant master, I mean if I say [inventory] would¡­¡±


    As soon as Cyan said that a new blue screen pop up


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    [Inventory]


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The inventory is sealed


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡®Sigh, so it was like this too¡¯


    [Arlom]: ¡°I had never had heard that word [inventory]¡±


    At first Arlom thought that Cyan words were very weird, but, after he said [status] like the [names] a list of status has shown up, everything was there, organized and numbered.


    Arlom was thinking that this was very unsettling, whom would want to know exactly how much ¡ähp¡ä you have or how much ¡ämp¡ä is left, what if the hp say cero, would he just drop death? just because a number say so?, what if he need to cast a spell to save his life, would he not be able, just because a number say he can¡¯t? And there was also the level number, this was supposed to be a representation of his overall strength, that number in particular was a bunch of crap for him.


    ¡®How can you know who is stronger looking at one number, without fighting it for real, how can you tell that you can¡¯t cast a spell to save yourself or your friends because a number say so, who says I am death just because my hp says cero¡¯


    At the end he has promise to himself never to use [status] ever again.


    But this was different than before, he was feeling there was an inventory bag inside his head this time around, that was indeed very puzzling, how can he put things inside his head, his head was no empty like Cyan after all, but nevertheless, he try it, and¡­ it worked, just the same as when he used his inventory bag.


    ¡®Sigh, Cyan is the king of cheaters after all¡¯ that name ¡®cheater¡¯, was growing with more strength as the time went on inside of Arlom head.


    Before he knew Cyan, he only knew about [names], but now he knew about [status] and [inventory], this was life changing information for a lot of people, just [inventory] was enough into stablishing a kingdom if you could control how knows the word.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan how do you know all those ancient words?¡±


    Looking over the reaction and hearing the seriousness tone in the voice of Arlom, that was different from his calm face that Arlom carry almost always, now it was just most of the time, Cyan could already guess what had happen.


    Cyan shook his head.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Those are just words in a language of earth¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°If there only one language in earth?¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Of course not, there are a lot of other languages; it is just that, this one, I only know some words of it¡±, ¡®RPG words mostly¡¯, that was left out of Cyan explanation.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Can you also use status, and inventory?¡±


    Cyan shook his head again.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I can¡¯t, when I said those words, it only says that, they are sealed and unless I break or remove the seal, I will not be able to use my inventory or hero¡¯s skills, but it also says [Name] are laws and it can¡¯t be completely sealed¡±


    Arlom nodded his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan never let anyone else to know about these words, or any words from your world, it is too dangerous, we don¡¯t know what effect will they produce, do you understand?¡±


    Cyan could understand that, having an inventory always with you, was something important that no one has found out, in a world were an inventory bag was crazy expensive, what would happen if suddenly everyone got one?, the consequences would be enormous.


    [Arlom]: ¡°About the seal, I¡­ don¡¯t know anything about that, but, it only says your status are sealed to view, that means you just can¡¯t see itand nothing else, so you can still keep training without any problem, as for the inventory, after I check that this new inventory is safe, I will give you the inventory bag to you, as for you hero¡¯s skills, well, think of it it, as an opportunity to strengthen yourself without being dependent in something so unreliable like a sealed name, work hard in learning how to use the mana from this world¡±


    Cyan change his downcast aptitude to sparkling eyes again, with this kind of Master all problems were just stepping stones for him, nothing to be worry about, but he was forgetting that a status screen purposes was not only to see his status, but to also useunallocated points. This was a key different between the [status] from Cyan and the [status] from Arlom, ignoring that part, Cyan continued with his high spirits.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master will you really teach me how to use mana!¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Of course, would I lie?¡±


    ''Tsk that ''look'' again¡¯


    Cyan was looking directly at Arlom eyes, there was not lie in his eyes, at least no one that Cyan could detect, but he still feel something was wrong, like if Arlom was mocking his eyes inside him, this was also a way for Arlom to test Cyan eyes, there is no omnipotent being in the universe, nor skills that could ¡®see¡¯ all the universe trues into the world.


    There were two things that Cyan didn¡¯t know yet about his inventory and status screen, one is that his inventory was not empty like Arlom inventory, and two, he still have the two wishes that were granted to him by two gods and the only way to use them was by unsealing his status screen.

 Chapter 17: Own self

    Chapter 17: Own self


    Arlom was left alone in the kitchen, a minute ago Cyan has finished his food and went upstairs, and after Cyan was out of sight, Arlom fainted over the table.


    ¡®Training? Are you crazy? I am barely holding himself together and you want to keep training¡¯


    That battle against his other self was not a walk in the park for him, what he needs now, is time to recover, there wasn¡¯t a potion that could heal his body because the damage wasn¡¯t there, but in Arlom mind and soul.


    What he was doing in front of Cyan was just a light show and nothing more, and act, he was afraid that Cyan would had taken notice of his broken status, and he didn¡¯t wanted Cyan to be worrying about him, Cyan should be worrying himself and about other important things, nevertheless, even if Cyan maybe took notice of his status, even until the end he didn¡¯t say or asked anything, no maybe he asking for training was a test, this disciple of him was crazy.


    Arlom was trying to chase Cyan away, telling him, he will clean up the table after him and that he should just go to bed and take a rest for tomorrow training, while promising to him one more time that he would teach him how to use mana.


    That battle against his own dark self has wreak havoc in his mind, it was a battle very hard to win, no, it was beyond that, it should had being impossible to Arlom walk away from that, he should be dead right now, there was no other end for that fight, he should be dead, important things should be said twice.


    In the middle of that battle, Arlom kneeled in front of his own dark self, after realizing that he could not win, he just had gave up on fighting, at least that¡¯s what Arlom wanted to his other self to think.


    [Dark-Arlom]: ¡°So you realized it now? That you would never able to beat me¡±


    Arlom that was kneeling in the ground and it was not saying anything back, this was the end, he had tried everything in his power, but his own self knew all of his tricks, all of his power, techniques or skills, nothing worked on him, even worse he was faster than Arlom himself, even if it was not by much it was created a huge gap between the two.


    The only thing Arlom could do was to just put his head in a silver platter and be done with it, nevertheless his dark self was not falling for it.


    [Dark-Arlom]: ¡°Do you think I am stupid and I would fall for you petty tricks? As soon as I go to strike you down you will try to make me go down with you¡±


    Yes of course, Arlom was taking the path of mutual annihilation, if Arlom could not win, then he will make the other party to die together with him, this was the only way to guaranteed Cyan safety and future.


    A small ¡®tsk¡¯ escaped Arlom lips, his other self knew exactly how he thinks, back inside in Arlom mind, ''is there no a way to win? Would Cyan wake up only to find himself facing this monster in front of me? A monster that I could not beat? Don¡¯t joke with he would not last a minute¡¯


    Arlom could not win, and the consequences of losing were not just losing in own life but Cyan life too, but how to win against somethings that knows exactly how you think or move? And even worse it is faster than yourself.


    ¡®No, there is away¡¯


    His other dark self knew how he thinks, they had the same brain after all, and that¡¯s also why Arlom also knew how his own dark self thinks too, how a monster think, and how arrogant he is, he thinks he has already won, then¡­ Arlom would use just that.


    Standing up Arlom was showing a huge opening where his dark self should strike at with a 100% of certainty, a weak spot, his own heart, even if Arlom has told Cyan to never bet, this was Arlom betting away his own life by putting his heart in a silver platter.


    [Arlom]: ¡°If you think you had already won, then come and take it, I will be waiting for you right here, or are you afraid of me? Are you afraid that you would be too slow to avoid my counter attack after you strike? A monster being afraid of death what a joke¡±


    This was it, if the other party was so arrogant, how he can reject such provocation, ¡®Are not you stronger and faster than me? Then come a prove it, come and take it¡¯


    If the other party would not fall for any of his traps, then Arlom would invite he himself to the trap, no, he will point out the trap himself, and Dark-Arlom would have no other choice but to walk right in, he knew how a monsters thinks, they only care about ¡®fun¡¯ and ¡®engaging¡¯, killing a prey was pointless if it was not fun, or at least challenging, they had always choose their prey very accurately by how much fun they could bring out from them, the most satisfaction they get at the end the better.


    Dark-Arlom could only¡­ laugh.


    [Dark-Arlom]: ¡°AHAHAHAHAHA, how fun, then let me enjoy the moment myself, this has being the most fun I had in a while my old self, and don¡¯t worry, I will take good care of Cyan for you, Good bye forever Arlom¡±


    A difference between Arlom and Dark-Arlom was that the later was completely dark, but there was another difference between the two, and it is that Arlom was always carry a huge white axe and Dark-Arlom was carry a long black sword that was his favorite, Arlom has changed his sword for an axe as his main weapon only to spoil his fun, Arlom was not fun at all.


    But inside his world he can pick and choose any of the weapons that are in Arlom inventory, even his Arlom was changed his sword for and axe he has never discarded that sword, now, it was being using against him, Arlom could only regret to still carry that sword around.


    This time Dark-Arlom choose not to use any trick or even try to attack from the back, that would not be fun either, he would just charge in from the front, while aiming his sword to Arlom own heart, at least the thing that represents his heart in this world.


    This was inside Arlom mind after all, and Arlom real body was just standing in front of Cyan giving him his back and with his eyes close, nevertheless his lips was a trace of blood, as well as blood was coming from his nose and eyes.


    Arlom true body has never kneeled in front of this monster, no, he was in front of Cyan as protecting him from any harm and as well as remainder of why he could not fail, if he fails Cyan that was behind him will suffer the penalty of his defeat.


    A dark flash crossed Arlom eyes, his own self was coming after his life now, he don¡¯t need to check where that sword will land or where it was aimed, nor the path it would take, Arlom had given up all of his defenses or forms of protection exchanged for speed, there is no need to parry of block that attack, he only needs to swing his axe as fast and accurately as he could, to where he believes Dark Arlom would be, and that was it, there is nothing else to think about.


    ¡®Good bye Cyan¡¯


    Those were Arlom last thoughts¡­


    Dark Arlom was smiling away, his sword would pierce Arlom heart and he only needs to move of the way of the axe, and that will be the end, Arlom heart was left totally unprotected, and Arlom himself doesn¡¯t any mana left to cast a spell any more, any other trick would had already being pick out by him, no, this was the end he was sure. After he strikes a small gap of time would be formed by the impact of the sword allowing him to avoid the counter attack from Arlom, the game of cat and mouse, it was so fun for him to play this game¡­


    Just as his sword was about to strike Arlom heart, a mana shield appeared in front of Arlom chest, it was not strong enough to completely block the sword but that was not the propose of this shield since the beginning, what it did, was to move the sword path just enough so that it would missed the heart for a few centimeters.


    After missing the heart completely and having his strike that was guaranteed to hit, miss, a gap appeared, but not in Arlom, but in Dark-Arlom reaction time.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Arlom did not missed this one and only chance, no, he has already started to swing his axe since the beginning, he did not care the how, he can only think in the outcome, and in Cyan future, without losing a beep, Arlom axe named dark-splitter, finally accomplish his propose, by splitting Dark-Arlom in two, maybe the name of the axe was a little silly, but he has chosen this axe exactly because of that name.


    The two half of Dark-Arlom dropped to the ground, there was not blood coming from him but a dark smoke that was evaporation very fast into the air.


    On the other hand Arlom has a sword sticking out from his chest that was poking on the other side and he was bleeding profusely but it was not in mortal danger, and like a glass the sword shatter in pieces and banished together with Arlom wound, nevertheless the wound will still remained in Arlom mind even if it was not reflect in his body, like any other of his wounds that he had suffer in this battle.


    Dark-Arlom could only utter some last words, with a shocked expression that was saying he can¡¯t accept this outcome, no, he had already won, he should had won, why did he still lost at the end.


    [Dark-Arlom]: ¡°H-how, you should not have any more mana remaining in you, you have trick me!¡±


    Arlom could only put a bitter smile to his Dark self and shook his head, he was asking that himself.


    [Arlom]: ¡°It wasn¡¯t me, it is like you say; I don¡¯t have any more mana in me to cast any spell¡±


    Arlom could only just shrug his shoulders while saying


    [Arlom]: ¡°The mana¡­ just moved on his own self¡±


    Dark-Arlom could only start laughing at that.


    [Dark-Arlom]: ¡°The mana just moved by itself? Are you stupid? Do think I am a fool? Of course it was you that did it, just admit it already¡±


    Arlom could only look with pity to his own dark self, was him this stupid? No he was just being blind on his own will his arrogance has blinded him.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Believe what you will, that doesn¡¯t change the fact that his is this is your end, now be gone¡±


    [Dark-Arlom]: ¡°AHAHAHAHA di you think this is the end of me? Dream on! One slip, and I will back to my feet¡¯s, one wrong move and I will come back to haunt you down, I will be always present in you, because at the end of the day I am you, if you are still alive so I am¡±


    ¡®Tsk¡¯


    Arlom knew he was saying the true, he can¡¯t completely get rid of him, because he was himself, nevertheless.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Be gone already, I have quality time to past with my son, and I am 30 years late¡±


    With a creepy laughter, Dark-Arlom finally banish, and Arlom has come back now to the real world.


    After coming back to himself he has fallen to the ground that battle was impossible hard, and his mental wounds were no minor wounds he should be dead, but he had won only by struck of luck, he had won only because the residual mana that someone has left there.


    Looking over the unconscious Cyan, Arlom discarded that idea, it was impossible to control the mana so precisely and with such impeccable timing, and even more when you were unconscious, even if Cyan was talking with him just before using mana, he was still awake, and that should be the limits of someone as Cyan, no, the only explanation Arlom could come out, was that mana was moved on his own, that was all.


    At point Arlom fainted right on the same spot, he could not move at all, it was not but a few hours later that the he could forcedly wake up, and start putting a show for Cyan to watch, if Cyan asked about the fight or how did he won he would just brush over the subject, there was no need to worry Cyan right now, but at the end Cyan didn¡¯t asked him anything, maybe he understood Arlom feeling, but whatever it was, Arlom could only felt relief, while fainting over the table once more.


    Back inside Cyan (this was after Arlom had his fight against his own self)


    Was the body of Cyan looking for something, what was the body looking for? Of course, for Mana.


    [Body]: ¡°Mana where are you!¡±


    Just before the body was badly hurt and could barely move, but he had recover now thanks to the body drinking some weird red liquid and the passing throughout the whole body, he was very grateful to the stomach, but the stomach only reply him with a¡­


    [Stomach]: ¡°Don¡¯t mentioned¡±


    He just brushed off the body and went back to sleep, he was very tired after all.


    After that the body started to look for Mana once again, after all he was the one that should be taking care and looking after her.


    Just before he was badly hurt she had disappeared to somewhere and the body was unable to find her, after that he could not move at all, now that he was back to his feet he was trying to find her once again.


    [Body]: ¡°Sigh, Mana where are you¡±


    The body was a little depressed, it seems Mana was not happy with him and has ran away from his side, he was sad about that, but before he could keep feeling depressed¡­


    [Mana]: ¡°I am back¡±


    [Body]: ¡°Oh, Mana welcome back¡­ wait, don¡¯t I back me, where had you being hiding, you know how worry I was about you, what if something had happen to you, don¡¯t leave my sight any more, or at least tell where are you going or give me a call, you know how worried I was for you¡±


    In the other side Mana was chuckling to this silly body, it was obvious he was worry about her, and he it was a little sad that she wasn¡¯t there, but she was carrying a mission that the Brain has asked her to do, and it was of huge importance, she could not fail at it, even if she was a little afraid of going outside the body reach of protection, she still choose to do it, it would be worse for the body otherwise.


    After exiting the body of Cyan, she used the mana outside to reach to where Arlom was, and using the communication device that the Brain has given her, she started to past the messages the brain was sending her to the brain of Arlom.


    After a while the messages stopped coming, and she was not getting more orders from the Brain, so the logic thing to do now was to just come back, being outside of Cyan Body, she could feel that her mind was slowly slipping away, nevertheless she stayed a little awhile longer.


    Inside Arlom mind there was taking place a huge battle between two entities, of course she knew whom was who, thanks to the detailed explanation of the Brain has gave her.


    Near the end of that battle she was reaching his limits, but she had also found a perfect opportunity to help the stupid master of Cyan, or at least that¡¯s what her instincts were telling her to do, that¡¯s right she has not come back yet because her instincts were telling here to stay and help Arlom out.


    After using the mana she still have in herself, she did a small shield so the Arlom mind would not be destroyed, and after that she rushed back, out of Arlom mind, without watching the conclusion, she could not handle any more time outside the Body reach of protecting, after she entered back to the body of Cyan she could left a sigh of relief.


    It was thanks to the Body that was looking for her tirelessly, it is that she was able to come back to Cyan body safely thanks to his guided that was like a beacon to her.


    Mana could only ask for an apology.


    [Mana]: ¡°I am sorry Body, next time I will let you know for sure¡±


    Mana was bowing down to the body apologizing to him.


    [Body]: ¡°It is good that you understand, wait what next time?¡±


    [Brain]: ¡°Stop bothering Mana, I was the one that I asked her to do something for us, now, Mana, I thank you very much for your help, if it is wasn¡¯t for you we would not be here right now, thank you for all you hard work¡±


    Now the Brain was bowing to Mana as a sign of thanks and as form of an apology to force her to do something so risky, the Body was out of the loop right now, ¡®did I miss something?¡¯ what his only thought, letting out a sigh he just let it go, what matter right now is that Mana is back safe and save.


    [Brain]: ¡°Now if you excuse me I need to go to rest, you should do the same Body, you are in no condition to go jumping around like a fool right now, sigh, you two would be my end definitely¡±


    Because the noise the body was making the Brain was force to wake up from his rest to calm him down, and now he just wanted to go back to rest, but actually he was also worried about Mana, after the Body had found her again, he force himself to say his thanks to her, if not for her¡­ well who knows what would had happen.


    Turning around the Brain left them alone he only has come out to say his thanks and go back to sleep, now there was only Mana and the Body left alone.


    Mana turned around to look over the body, she had seen it, the beating the Body has suffered, but she was not there for him because she was left doing the task that only she could do. She wanted to rush back at the Body but the brain has stop her, saying that if she doesn¡¯t this task now it would be even worse for Cyan Body, so Mana could only grit her teeth and force herself to look away.


    After that, Arlom has gave Cyan Body a lot of potions for him to recover is when she could feel more at ease, but she still was sorry for not being there for the body, she should have being there, it has not been long since they meet but every day was a lot of fun to her.


    [Mana]: ¡°Body I¡­ I am really sorry that I wasn¡¯t...]


    But before she could continue.


    [Body]: ¡°What are you apologizing now? Didn¡¯t the Brain say that if it wasn¡¯t for you, we would not even be here, I am the one that should be apologizing to you Mana, Mana I am sorry for getting angry at you¡±


    Now the body was bowing to Mana asking for apologies.


    After bowing down the Body realized his mistakes, was not this happen before? Yes it has, and Mana at that time asked him not to apologized but to say his thanks, ¡®sigh I am suck an idiot to forget about that¡¯


    But just as he was feeling like an idiot for forgetting that, he had remember that the last time, Mana has tried to kiss him when he looked up back then, will Mana doing the same thing again this time? The body cheeks could not help but to become a little red.


    Looking up he could see Mana was¡­ crying


    The happy mood the body had instantly banished, and was replaced by a sad one, ¡®now I had go and done it, I made Mana cry, sigh¡¯


    On the other side Mana was crying of sadness and because she was happy, because this idiot, even after receiving a beating his brain has gone bad, he did not blame her for not being there, no, he was not worry about himself at all, but only about her, even when he was receiving a beating, he was such an idiot, that never stop to look after her.


    [Body]: ¡°Mana I am sorry, no, I mean thank you, for helping us, please don¡¯t cry¡±


    Mana could only shook his head, this idiot is helpless, and at least he remember to say thanks instead of sorry.


    Washing away her tears.


    She had come closer to the body and gave him a kiss in the cheek, before walking away to her own room, it was better to the body to take a rest right now.


    The body was left alone stunned, nevertheless he was very happy, it seems Mana was not actually crying because he did something wrong, letting out a sigh, the body choose to go back to his room to take a rest.

 Chapter 18: Cyan training

    Chapter 18: Cyan training


    Arlom has woken up in the same spot, which he had fainted yesterday.


    It has been a few hours since he could not stay awake for much longer, because of the wounds he had received while he was fighting his own dark-self. These wounds, were only in his mind and were nothing more than illusions, nevertheless, the pain he felt was very real.


    Unlike any physical wound, this ones, can¡¯t be healed back by just using potions or by using the body own regeneration capabilities; they can be healed, but only, through the use of his own mind and willpower, and this is why, he was having problems to stay awake, to be able to fix his mind, he needs to enter into a deep slumber.


    Arlom could only give up the silly thoughts that he will recover after a day of sleep, but now he has other more important matter to care about. Getting back on his feet, finally, the 4 day has arrived, and now, it should be around 5 am.


    Arlom thought that, the clock inside Cyan, should be waking him up, in around about 2 hours or more, and he wished this to be with half an hour of margin of error, but sadly, that was never the case.


    [Arlom]: ¡°That damn stomach of Cyan¡± Was the only thing Arlom could say to himself, the stomach of Cyan was doing a scarily precise job, which would put any clock into shame.


    Nevertheless, he still needs to pretend he was unhurt, and to do this, he has to put his everything is fine mask, and try to act like, he is not wounded at all in front of Cyan, just to try to fool him. And even if he has recover somewhat from his wounds after a night of sleep, it would still take a few more days, to make a full recovery, but he still needs to think a way, to keep training Cyan while he recovers.


    Keep throwing rocks at him?


    Arlom could only thought was ¡®Don¡¯t joke with me¡¯.


    He can barely stand while trying to act like normal, let alone, going all around while throwing stones at Cyan. His stupid disciple, would take notice that, Arlom was not in top health if he did that. Letting out a sigh, Arlom could only shake his head while he started to clean out the kitchen.


    How should he be training Cyan right now? Keep training Cyan speed was still a must, and the speed of Cyan was increasing each day, in a nice and predictable rate.


    Cyan movements still need a lot of polish, but that was nothing to be worry about right now. What Arlom was most worry about, was Cyan understandings of the laws, which was progressing in a scary and unpredictable rate.


    For someone that was claiming, that, he has come from a planet, were, they don¡¯t teach you how to use your own mana, it sure doesn¡¯t looked like that at all to Arlom, and let¡¯s not start talking about his understanding of the other laws, like the law of Name, and the law of Gravity.


    In the end, the overall rate which Cyan was growing, was totally outside the scale charts in this regard. That¡¯s is why Arlom felt that Cyan was cheating him somehow, but, each time he thought that, he would see that stupid¡­ I mean, stunned and honest expression in Cyan face, when he has made a breakthrough in his understandings of laws. Arlom could only give up, on that silly idea.


    Arlom could only assume now, that Cyan was a top genius and he should be feeling proud about that; any fifteen to sixteen year old kid, in any of the six surrounding Kingdoms, would be left behind in the dust, nevertheless, this has its own issues too. Now that Arlom can¡¯t ¡®just¡¯ keep throwing stones at him, how Cyan should be training from now on?


    Teaching him how to use mana? That was a sure way to keep him busy, but, if he does something stupid, which, Arlom can guaranteed that, something dangerously stupid will definitely happen, when that happen, he will not be able to save or even help his disciple in his current broken status.


    For example, let¡¯s say Arlom teach him about using mana, to cast a summoning spell for Cyan to form a contract with a partner which whatever things he summons.


    And then, Cyan summons an uncontrollable beast, which would wreak havoc inside the cave, with the possibility of hurting or even killing Cyan in the process. Arlom would be powerless about it.


    Arlom could only shake that idea off his brain. He could totally picture Cyan summoning a stupidly huge dragon.


    This was the kind of stupidity that Arlom was most worry about, Cyan hurting or killing himself just because of his huge amount of mana, and scary grow rate would become uncontrollable at some point, and without Arlom being able to protect him right now, it would surely end badly, for the both of them.


    However Arlom could not just give up and do nothing about Cyan training, he knew, the kind of stupid kid his disciple was, he can¡¯t just say stay here and rest a few day, without Cyan doing something stupid.


    But, most of all, they are in a tight schedule, only 26 more days for the protection of the Monster king to end, and after that, every hunter and every monster, would come after their lives.


    Arlom could only put a serious face, while he was doing the chores and he was thinking what to do. He needs to make Cyan ready to combat, for when that time comes, and because of that, they can¡¯t just waste any time, just because he was lightly hurt, and could not personally supervise Cyan training for a few days.


    In actual fact, Arlom should be in bed, sleeping in a comatose state while recovering, rather than, cleaning the kitchen, that¡¯s how bad his wounds are, but, he still was forcing himself to stay awake while he could.


    He only needs to fool Cyan for a few hours per day, and, even if he can¡¯t fool Cyan in the end, he still needs to think a way to training him, he can¡¯t just leave the helplessly weak Cyan without anything to do¡­ but, with a soft voice, that Arlom could only heard, he speak to himself.


    [Arlom]: ¡°¡®This won¡¯t do, I am protecting him too much, and I can¡¯t train him by myself now, maybe, it was my mistake thinking like this all long, in that case, there is only a way now¡­¡±


    Arlom could not keep putting this act in front of Cyan for much longer, he needs to buy time for himself, and he needs to train Cyan at the same time.


    At the end, he has to come out with one solution and fast, and maybe he knows a way.


    .


    .


    .


    Cyan was waking up almost jumping out his bed.


    He was full of energy after sleeping for a whole day in a comfortable bed, and after recovering from all of his wounds and fatigue, he was ready for anything that Arlom would throw at him, in the literal sense.


    Today was the day, he was ready to dodge each and every stone that his master would throw at him, while he was aiming for the perfect score 100 of 100 consecutives stones dodged, after all, Arlom has promised him, he will teach him magic spells if he just managed to do that somehow.


    After waking up, Cyan notice that, his master has not come yep, to wake him up, unlike the last time, nevertheless, Cyan did not minded, as he just continue doing his morning routine like he always did.


    And like always, while he was doing some light exercises his stomach started to growl at him with angry and imaginary voice, which sounded just like his own voice, Cyan could only think it was saying something like this


    ¡®Hey stop ignoring me, and lets go and eat breakfast, I very am hungry, hey!¡¯


    And like always, Cyan would ignore that voice, and continue with his morning program, what was more important? Of course having a healthy body that is.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    [Cyan]: ¡°1 2 3¡­ 1 2 3¡­. 1 2 3¡­. 1 2 3¡­ and done, now I am ready for a new day, but first, let¡¯s go and eat something before we start training today¡±


    Cyan was very hype up today.


    The stomach of Cyan could only be grumpy about being ignored but, whatever, at the end of the day Cyan would always deliver the food for him, and that¡¯s the only thing that matters to him


    ¡®Let¡¯s go, you are too slow, my grandma run faster than you¡¯, ¡®you don¡¯t have a grandma¡¯, ¡®shut it¡¯.


    Cyan rushed to the kitchen, he could smell the delicious food made by his Master in the mornings like always, it has not being long but, Cyan has grown fond of the breakfast time with his Master that was also his Father.


    After opening the door, he could see his Master behind the furnace while giving his back to him, in the same way as yesterday.


    While watching the busily Arlom doing the breakfast, Cyan still could not believe he had slept for so long, should he not feel slowest and stiff? Then why, his body felt so refreshed and full of energy?


    He even felt very happy at something, like something good has happen to him last night before he went to sleep, but he could not remember what it was, in the end Cyan could only shrug that feeling of having forgotten something off his mind.


    Before taking a sit, Cyan took the time to talk to his Master while giving him a morning salute.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Good morning Master, did you had a good night of sleep?¡±


    Arlom only nodded his head as a reply, without turning around, Cyan could only think his master was a man of few words after all.


    Because it was as perfect time as like any other, Cyan started to talk Arlom about what he thought last night.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, I am sorry for not being of any help for you, I would feel better, if you let me help you, to gather the food from now on, no, rather, please Master, allow me to help you, from now I also want to gather food, it is a humble request from your disciple¡±


    Arlom could only let out an inaudible sigh, while shaking his head.


    Even his Cyan was at his back, Arlom was very aware that, Cyan was, once again, bowing down his head to him.


    It hasn¡¯t been 4 full days, and Cyan was already requesting him to be allowed to be put to help, but, for him to be asking a food gathering task on his own, Arlom could only sighed to that, after all, food was very sparse in this forest and the competition for it was very strong and ferocious.


    In other circumstance, Arlom would had not allowed Cyan to step out of this cave, without training him a lot more, but, he has realized his mistakes now, and, this ¡®humble request¡¯ of his disciple fit quite nicely with Arlom own agenda for the day.


    It was actually, quite funny, how each time he was thinking how to make his disciple do something, Cyan himself would come running to him, begging him to do exactly that, without Arlom asking him to do it.


    ¡®Well, at least it would be easier to fool him now¡¯. This was Arlom only thought, there was not need to think a way to fool a fool, because they fool themselves in the end.


    Arlom turned around to take look at the face filled with anticipation and eagerness of Cyan, which was wanting to be of any help for him.


    Arlom could only nod his head as a sign that as he agrees with Cyan ¡®own¡¯ proposal.


    For Cyan, even if Arlom had the same calm-serious expression he has almost-always, he could understand that, Arlom was feeling delighted of his disciple own proactivity.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Alright, but it is too late for you to help me with the food for breakfast because it is already done, but, after we eat breakfast, I will request you help me to gather and prepare the food for lunch and dinner¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°I understand, and thank you Master¡±


    Arlom could only shake his head side to side.


    [Arlom]: ¡°There is no need for you to give me your thanks, because you will be eating from that food too¡±


    That¡¯s right, why Cyan was such a silly person that would say thanks, when he was allowed to lend a hand and be put to help, he was acting the same as his own Mother would. Arlom could not help but to be reminded of her because of Cyan actions.


    A while after that, the Master and disciple sited over the table, while sharing the breakfast food.


    This time around, Arlom has not put out any poison for training Cyan resistances, at the end he only put out, mana control, and mana refining pills, mind development pills and muscle as well bone strengthening pills.


    Arlom has already explained to Cyan about those pills beforehand, and which were the side effects, and he should not be too eager for eating a lot of those for a while, after today, because he would grow dependent on them in the future.


    Nevertheless Cyan could not help but to ask about the missing poisons pills.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, why is there not a poison pill today too?¡±


    Arlom nodded his head, this was a valid question, because increasing the resistances against poisons and pain was an important part of Cyan training after all¡­ but, this won¡¯t do this time around.


    [Arlom]: ¡°That¡¯s because, you will be start doing another kind of training starting today and I afraid that it would only get on the way if I gave you the poison, so, it is to prevent you for getting hurt by it, or even worse you may lose your life because of it, if that were to happen, it would lost its purpose as training and it be stupid of my part to try to force training your resistances¡±


    Cyan was almost stunned by Arlom revelations, a new training? What is this all about?


    But Cyan could only nod to his Master explanation, that sounded quite logic. A new kind of training, were it would become too dangerous, if he forcefully keeps training his resistances, against poisons and pain.


    A training that will kill you, was not training was not training but suicide, If that was not that putting the cart before the horse then, what is?


    Cyan could now understand his Master intentions, and Cyan could only grow fonder of his Master, that was worrying about him.


    Even if the new training would be dangerous, by not giving him the poison, it would not put him in any mortal danger, no in a million years; refusing to take out the poison after Cyan has asked for it, was all the proof he needed, at least that¡¯s what Cyan thought.


    Cyan was very proud of his own caring Master, but at the same time he was getting a little nervous, what new kind of training would be this time? What he would be doing now? Dodging even bigger rocks?


    Cyan could not help but to ponder about it.


    ¡®Maybe he will teach me how to use mana spells this time around¡¯, Cyan eyes could only start to shine like starts, and his imagination was going wild, thinking about cool new ways to use mana for.


    At the end Arlom needed to put stop to Cyan own imagination, because reality would always be far more fantastic than one own imagination after all.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Stop imagining weird things, and eat your food before it gets too cold¡±


    Cyan was brought back to reality with the hard scolding of his Master, nevertheless wanted to know more about this subject.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master can you at least tell me a about new training we will be doing?¡±


    Cyan was still almost jumping out of his chair.


    After watching Cyan, Arlom started pondering what he should be saying, to this energetic disciple, about the new training.


    In the end he made the choice not to say anything, because it will be more fun¡­ I mean effective, for Cyan training, to keep him guessing about it, maybe he can train that brain to think little bit too, while at it.


    Arlom nodded his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I will be telling you, after you help me gathering the food for lunch and dinner, now, eat your food¡±


    Cyan grew exited over the subject, he could not wait, even if wasn¡¯t long he have arrived here, after a few days of training he felt so strong now, that he was wanting to keep training even more.


    A new training, a new way to become even stronger, with his Master guiding him, he had nothing to be afraid of. What about the monster king? Cyan could only laugh at him in his mind, with his Master teachings, in a month time, no, rather in a 3 weeks, the monster king would be just a bug for Cyan to step on.


    Cyan could suppress his excitement and go back to a correct sitting position.


    [Cyan]: ¡°I understand Master¡±


    Back in his chair, Cyan started to eat the breakfast, which his caring a loving Master has prepared for him this morning,


    The food compose of a pair of eggs of a unknown species, it was unknown from where they had come because they were green and red, nevertheless, by the smell it was giving off, Cyan could not help but to give them a try.


    Not to his regret, even if the eggs were rather funny looking, the taste was exactly like back home, like how his father from earth would do it himself, it was nostalgic feeling.


    Cyan eyes were becoming a little watery, but he could not be crying again in front of his Master, over a pair of eggs, he would be called stupid again, ¡®no that can¡¯t happen again¡¯, Cyan steeled his mid and suppressed his tears while carrying on eating the food.


    In other aspect, even if the eggs were rather funny look, Cyan stomach was not a picky eater after all, if the taste was good then everything was fine. Cyan wanted to retort back at his own stomach if he would eat poison if the taste was good, but this has already happen before, and the stomach refused to throw the poison out, so he could only give up to his stomach.


    Over the table, there was also a soft bread that melted in your mouth, and there was even butter, ¡®they have butter in this world? Even more, they have butter in this Death forest? Are you joking with me? Is not Arlom the perfect Master or what?¡¯ Cyan could only think to himself.


    To procure such abundant and tasty food for him, Cyan could not help but to feel even more moved by Arlom dedication, and his eagerness to help him to gather food grew even more. After Dark-Arlom was gone, Arlom the White, has come out at full fledge, at least that¡¯s what Cyan was thinking to himself.


    Before Cyan could reorganized his feelings, his Master having remembered something, started to speak to him again.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Oh right, before I forget, here take this¡±


    Moving his hands under the table, he took out something and presented to Cyan as a gift, it was the inventory bag, an epic utility item, with 18 slots to put items in; it was an amazing gift to give and received.


    While Cyan was being amazing by the inventory bag, in the other side of the table was Arlom.


    He has already finished reviewing the [inventory] word, that Cyan has teach him, and after being sure it was as safe, if no more, than his old inventory bag, and that it can hold even more stuff, it is that, he regretfully choose to separate from his old inventory bag and gifted it to Cyan.


    After all, Cyan [inventory] word was sealed, and Arlom could not transferred his [inventory] word to Cyan, but he could give him his old inventory bag.


    This thing was already Arlom best friend, letting it go was very hard for him, if he could, he would had start calling this inventory bag after a name, but,giving a proper name to objects was rather uncommon and very hard to do.


    Arlom could only let out a sigh that was not reflected in his face.

 Chapter 19: Inventory bag history

    Chapter 19: Inventory bag history


    The already moved Cyan, could only feel even more moved by Arlom the white, I mean, his Master actions.


    This things are crazy expensive, in this world standards, they could buy you a mansion in the capital of any of the six kingdoms, six times.


    But it was more than that for them, in here, it hold even more value, because it could hold your own life, and that, was priceless.


    It was the most useful tool for anything that lives inside this forest, for obvious reasons, having the ability to carry on a lot of stuff with you, without affecting at all your combat abilities, was a precious thing have.


    It was a matter of life and death in this forest to have potions and antidotes with you at any given moment in time and be able to use them in the precise time.


    Cyan didn¡¯t know what to say, but he didn¡¯t dare to refuse this gift, even he wanted to, Arlom expression was of someone, that would not accept a refuse, and refusing a gift from someone that was giving it to you with the best intentions, was not something that Cyan was capable of doing.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master¡­ I don¡¯t know what to say, but thank you, I will take care of it with my life, and I am totally paying you back for it when I can¡±


    Even if this was a gift, Cyan still plans to pay it for it in the future.


    Arlom could only shook his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°There is no need for that, I already got a replacement for it with the [inventory] word you gave me, I should be the one thanking you for it¡±


    Arlom carry on explaining to Cyan his motives.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Being that your word inventory is still sealed, it is obvious who should be holding this, just promise me that, you will take a good care of it, it has save my life more times that I can count, and I hope it saves your life too in a moment of need¡±


    Cyan could only growl to Arlom motives, ¡®Master can you be a little less honest¡¯ Cyan could on sighed. It was a great gift, but then again he also wished for his live no to be in danger to be in the need to use the inventory bag.


    He was debating if he should be happy or sad about this, while Arlom continue talking to him, without losing any time.


    [Arlom]: ¡°But remember, even if they are very handy to have, if anyone out there were to found out that you carry one of this, they will try to kill you on sight with no question asked, so you better be ready for that time¡±


    Cyan could only nod, but he was stilling wondering if, it would be less dangerous to not have an inventory bag.


    After giving some thoughts, he remember, that no matter what he does, he will become a target to everyone eventually, thanks to his medallion points, and the legend about the billion points.


    In the end, Cyan conclusion was that, it was better to hold the inventory bag after all, even with all the great dangers that it comes, the advantages are just equally great too if not more.


    Letting out a sigh, Cyan carry on listening his master explanation of how to use the inventory in the best way possible, and after they finished their food, Arlom took Cyan for a try run of how to use the inventory bag for real.


    While they were training, Cyan could only ponder if this was the new training Arlom was talking about before, but he discarded that thought off as soon has he got it.


    Arlom had said that, the new training would be a very dangerous one, and so far, the training with the inventory bag didn¡¯t feel anything dangerous at all, it was rather quite fun to do.


    Having things appear from nowhere and disappear, like a magic show, after a while it was quite entertained for the, internet deprived Cyan, not like he was giving that any thought at all.


    Cyan was now exploring the functions of the inventory bag; they were quite a few.


    This version has comes with a remote collection function with up 10 meters of distance, but Cyan could only use it to gather things around one meter of him, that were, of course, not glued to the ground, and everything he put inside the bag, would be perfectly stored and would not rot away, like it was freeze in time.


    In comparison, Arlom could use this same function to gather items around him up to 10 meters with no problems, and he even could take out, various items at the same time, while Cyan, was only able to managed take or put, one item at any giving time.


    There was another function called quick slots.


    This inventory bag has come with, 6 quick slots of the 18 available slots, those normal slots could hold up to 100kg of weight per normal slot.


    These quick slots could hold only 1/5 of the weight than the other normal slots could hold, but taking something out or in for a quick slot costed only 1/5 of the time of a normal one, that was only 1 second.


    It was a huge difference in time, so Arlom used them mostly for things that would save his life, like potions, poisons and weapons.


    Even if this was a hundreds of years old bag, it was still a quite high grade bag until this day, most inventory bag would only have 1 or 2 quick slot and 4 to 6 normal slots, with even less functions and less weight capacity per slot.


    Comparing the inventory bag against the [inventory] word, the later has 25 slots, were 8 were quick slots, and there was something else never seen by Arlom before, there were 2 heavy slots.


    Those heavy slots were tree times slower than the normal slots, reaching 4 seconds for using them, but they could hold 3 times more weight that a normal slot that was only of 100kg.


    That was 800kg of storage capacity combine in two slots, even if slower, this was already enough for half the stuff Arlom had in his old inventory, Arlom could only let out a sigh when he understood the function of the heavy slots.


    Of course Arlom did not told Cyan anything about the [inventory] word capacity and other functions, this was because Cyan doesn¡¯t need to know about this right now. Nor, he wanted to made look, the great inventory bag, which has save his life hundred¡¯s if no thousands of times, like a cheap toy in Cyan hands.


    Arlom could only let of a sigh inside his mind, where his [inventory] word has always being since the beginning.


    Not noticing the hidden regret in Arlom face, was Cyan looking after the final function.


    Finally, the best function that was present in both inventory bag and the [inventory] word, was, of course, the weightless function, no matter what you put in, the weight of the bag would not change at all for Cyan.


    Nevertheless, for Arlom this was not entirely true. Even if the inventory was filled to the brink, it would almost-always have the same weight, but, after years of holding onto this inventory bag next to him, Arlom has memorized its weight, which is why, he could took notice of even the smallest of changes in the weight of the inventory bag, that would definitely occur in rarer occasions.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    But in the end, he could never found out, why some times the weight would had a small change, even so slightly, that was almost imperceptible, and the cause still remained a mystery for him to this day, when he was passing out this bag to Cyan.


    Arlom could only feel helpless about this unresolved mystery, but just shrugged off that thought of his mind, as he started explaining Cyan the history of the inventory bags.


    Cyan had listened very carefully to the history of that bags and he could resume it as such.


    The inventory bag has always being shrouded in mystery since they were created, and even after hundreds of years later, the name of inventor still remains unknown to everybody, these bags just appeared into the world one day¡­ one thousands of them.


    Even it was not a small number for Cyan, but for an entire planet, of course they were not enough of them, but luckily or unluckily.


    The humans were the ones that had found all of the one thousand known bags, that¡¯s why everyone thinks the inventor must also be a human too, why else all the bags would be in human hands since the beginning?


    Cyan thought it was a little unfair for the other races but, he has no say in a matter that has happen a long time ago, when he was not even alive, and maybe the inventor had his own reasons? Or the human stolen them all? Witch ever may be the case, it was something that has already happen in the past.


    Nevertheless.


    This little bag, had played a huge role, throughout history for setting the humans, as the dominant race of the continent, just because, they were the holders of all the one thousand inventory bags.


    Being at wars or personal fights with other races, everything ended in the human race victory after they conquered the continent.


    After all, the humans hold a huge amount of advantage against everyone else, being able to transport thousands of kilograms of food that would not rot to their armies, was the turning point in history.


    All the current wars at that time ended in victories for the human.


    With just the functions to compress space and being weightless, was enough of advantage to make all of the other races in the continent submit to the humans.


    The human race that was the only one race, that had the inventory bag in their power in the beginning, and they could only be considered as the most powerful race in the continent, even with all their problems and weakness as well internal conflicts. What other races don¡¯t have those conflicts in them too?


    In the end.


    Even if the humans killed each other, for the inventory bags, they still remained at hands of the humans at the end of the day; if was not after a lot of suicidal missions, that, the other races could steal some of the inventory bags from the humans, but most of the time the humans would rather have them destroyed, that being in the hands of other races.


    And become of the human were their never ending curiosity and thanks to them holding most if not all known inventory bag, they were the first to start the development in what is now known as, one of the principal item of the human race, the one that allowed them to keep in power for so many years after, the inventory box.


    Even if the other races would catch to them eventually in this field, due the slow progress in the development of the inventory box, the humans still hold supreme to this day, even after hundreds of years, this continent is still known as the human continent.


    Today, there are only a few dozen of bags in each of the six humans kingdoms, and they are under the strict control of their kings and queens; while other races got their hands in a few of the original, one thousand bags, they could not develop as fast as the humans, that could use a lot of bag for the development of their inventory box.


    And because of that only less than a hundred bag or so, remain to this day.


    A lot of them, were destroyed just to prevent wars between human, or to prevent them to being stolen away by the other races, but, most of the bags were destroyed, in the name of research for the inventory box.


    Only a few escaped this fate, and were just lost in time, without anyone knowing about their whereabouts, probably in the hands of other races, or waiting for someone to find them.


    Even if, the inventory bags, were considered at one time, priceless treasures that, were worth the equivalent of kingdoms, the current human race could disregard them as a priceless treasure, thanks to the years of studies done to the inventory bags in the past, that ended producing a lower grade inventory, called the inventory box.


    However, nobody was ever able to replicate the weightless function for completely, only reaching as far as weight reduction, with a max out of 50% weight reduction, in the more expensive models.


    This was accomplish by using a spell over the bag that needs constant refueling of refine mana, for the spells inside it. On the plus side, the compressed space in the inventory box, can sustain itself with no problems after being created, that¡¯s thanks to the surrounding mana pressured of the world.


    After the first year that the consumer grade inventory box was put into the market, every year, there would be a new generation of inventory box, in each of the six kingdoms, were it would become a huge festival, which celebrates the human conquest of the continent.


    And with each year, new features and small improvement were added to the new models of the inventory box, varying in a range of capacity, and functions, and mana consumption, with this year being the anniversary 93 of the first generation of inventory box.


    It was not only until the last 5 generations that, humans have managed to replicate the frozen slots of the original inventory bag, with only 1 slot preventing the food from rotting in the high end models, nevertheless this was a downgrade version that could not preserve the food for ever, only make them last longer.


    But in actual fact, they had stopped seriously improving their product a long time ago, only presenting a few minor improvements since the first generation.


    The inventory box, had a lot of problems to be solved, and the researchers, could only hit their heads against the wall, while trying to solve these problems, and even if they wanted to dismantle more inventory bags to understand how they worked and to solve the problems that, the current generation of inventory box¡¯s still has, they couldn¡¯t acquire them.


    That was because, the inventory bags were growing sparse throughout time, and all the kingdoms, suspended their utilization as material for the research and improvement, of the already existing and functional inventory box, that they considered, that was good enough, and there was no point in wasting more inventory bags for improving something that already works fine, and that can be develop without the sacrificing more bags.


    This was known to everybody, but, what was not known, was the silent rule of the kingdoms, to not improve the consumer grade inventory box any further.


    There was not wars to be fought right now or in the future anyway, and if they improve too much the inventory box, that in the end, could only bring them more problems into the future that the one it solves.


    Maybe, it was an intelligent move of their part; would not that be a poetic thought? Cyan was thinking to himself.


    The same item that has made the humans the dominant race in the continent, after being discovered by them and then develop to the upmost limits, would then, bring the humans to their down fall or extermination.


    Of course, it seems the humans can understand the bigger picture here, they were not that stupid after all. In this world of ironic fates, human were very aware of the dangers an inventory bag holds inside it.


    Something that has make them the most powerful race of all, could also destroyed them in the end, so, they choose not to push their lucks any more.


    But for magicians that were researching and developing the inventory box, this could only mean that, now they had to come out, with clever ways to improve the inventory box, even so slightly each year, without anyone noticing anything, at least if they can most people, everything would be fine.


    Even with all those problems, in each year show, the clever humans ¡®somehow¡¯ managed to do it, they manage to come out with a new and improved inventory box generation, you could only give to them, your thumps up each year.


    At the end Cyan could understand one thing, and that was Arlom important messaged.


    Even if inventory box is filled with holes in their development, it was actually equally priced at the current price of an inventory bag, which Cyan thought was weird at first, but he understood the reason after Arlom explanation.


    The only reason the inventory bag was priced so ¡®cheaply¡¯ now on days, was because, there was too much risk involved in having one, and it was not worth it.


    You need to be a lot stronger yourself at the level of a kingdom, to be able to hold onto one of those bags for long, I mean, who can be stronger than a kingdom, that are the ones that would come after you wherever you are, if they find out you with one of those bag?


    Most people would just pick the less dangerous but equally expensive options available.


    And the kingdoms could not let anyone that was not authorized by the king or queen to have one those, it was as simple as that, no matter who you are or how much money you have.


    Cyan could only let out a sigh after understating this, this was a gift but it was also something very dangerous to have.


    And the second lection of Arlom was.


    Somewhat similar to the first, it involve the dangers of the inventory bag holds. The same inventory bag that marked the rise of the human race, could also become their end if they were not carefully enough.


    This was like saying to Cyan even if something can make you powerful it can also destroy you in the end.


    While Cyan was thinking about the things Arlom has teach him, Arlom itself could not help but to wonder once again about the mysteries of the inventory bag.

 Chapter 20: The exit

    Chapter 20:The exit


    Unlike the inventory box, the mysterious inventory bag that Cyan was holding on to, only needs a little bit of mana to function, being to putting items in or taking them out or more importantly, the weightless function that doesn¡¯t need mana or anything else to work.


    For an inventory bag to be able of being completely weightless Arlom could only theorized that, something else was holding the weight for him, but this was rather complicated to think of and even more complicated to do, even the most intelligent of humans could only do a spell for weight reduction instead of weight nullification, and that was using the top most powerful spells in the laws of gravity category that humans known of.


    Even if the development of inventory box was halted after a few generations, the inventory bag functions were never easy to be replicated since the beginning, even to this day no one has replicated a perfect copy of the inventory bag.


    Because of the weightless functions of the inventory bag, Arlom could not help but to wonder, if there are really items inside the bag to begging with, a law can be bend but not broken, even with the most powerful of spells, the weight of items remains, for there to be not weight, then there must not be items inside it, something impossible to think of, unless there are really not items inside it.


    Of course, the current inventory box, could also create, a sub compressed space inside the box, but that sub space, would still weight the same as the sum of the items that were inside it, using a spell, the weight would be reduce but if the spells ends, then the weight would be back.


    Even with his current understandings of the law of gravity, nullification of the gravity was impossible to do, early before, even if Cyan could not feel it, gravity was still putting pressure in him, he was not weightless, he Cyan were to weight 500kg he would still had felt his own weight back then, and so Arlom could discard any spell in gravity category was being used in the bag.


    Then, how the inventory bag creator managed to make it so, no matter, what you put inside, the weight was the same, without the need for a spell to hold out the weight or mana to be fueled.


    The humans thought about this of course, it was not well known, but the inventory box is divided into three categories, sub space compression, sub space folding and a mix between the two, the latter category are in the current generation, nevertheless even if the Golden bag was also doing both it was also not doing both, because not spell was detected inside it or outside it.


    The space inside the bag was being folded and compressed, but there was something else to it, it was like a natural occurring phenomenon and not something someone has do, nevertheless this space helped the humans to broad their understanding of the laws, and being able to create the inventory box.


    Arlom only answer was, that the inventory bag must be not a bag of compressed and folded space, but a gate between two places, and the things he put inside it, are not truly inside it, instead of carrying them, he felt like he was carrying a gate to another place altogether, but where was this place and how can he accesses it with this bag? Would not other people also have access to this space too?


    This thought could send shivers to Arlom spine when he remembered all the important things he has put inside the bag in the past, that¡¯s is why now, truly precious thing he was not willing to lost, were not put inside of the inventory bag, of course Arlom explained Cyan all of this, even if Cyan didn¡¯t truly understood it, he will not put anything important in the future inside it.


    Arlom has tried to tag into the bag gate, but he could not do a lot of research in it, this bag was the most important item for him inside here, he didn¡¯t have any other, destroying it to do some researching was not worth the risk, even if the bags could hold 1 ton of weight, they were actually very delicate things that could be destroyed if not used correctly.


    Even if the inventory could hold a total of 1320kg, if you try to put something of that weight in only one slot, it would only end with a destroyed bag, in fact it was the easiest ways to do it, and you don¡¯t need a ton of weight, each slot can hold up to 100kg if you put something that weights more than that in a slot, it would not destroy that slot, all of the bag would be destroyed, it was the flimsy things ever made when you looked that way, there was nothing that stopped you for doing that.


    Even if the total amount of kg that a bag could hold, was equal to that of a mountain, and if a mountain were not to be glued to the ground, the inventory bag could not store it, if not separated in chucks to fill the slots first.


    It was funny that in this regard the inventory box has one up the inventory bag, in the box, any slot can be destroyed without destroying all the box, and it even could be fixed on a later time, industries for fixing inventory box was born of this.


    Nevertheless this was key to Arlom own theory that the inventory bag were gates, what it gets destroyed is the gate, even if all the other slots are still good, once the gate is destroyed the bag would become just that, a leather bag, that cost just a few silvers in any market.


    After Cyan has told him about the [inventory] word, a new theory has pop up inside Arlom head, as the inventory box was a copy of the inventory bag, the inventory bag was a copy of the [inventory] word, this [inventory] word needs a lot of studies from his part, but he could barely hold himself awake, doing researches in the new [inventory] word sounded like a joke to Arlom right now.


    In the end Arlom had to teach very carefully to Cyan, what bag really are, and to not put for example a whole dragon body inside it, even if it was a pity, trying to do so would end destroying the inventory bag anyway, or even put things he doesn¡¯t want to lost.


    Cyan wanted to retort to that but he would not do that in a millions years, but then again, who would be able to kill a dragon to be even thinking about storing it away, even more, the dragons existed too in this world? Cyan could only ignore this fact for his own mental health, nevertheless he will never forget what Arlom has teach him about not putting everything inside the bag, but as for now, he have nothing to store inside it anyway.


    While Arlom was submerged in his own theories, Cyan was still practicing with the inventory bag.


    After a few mistakes, Cyan got the hang of how to use the inventory bag to a level that Arlom himself could feel proud of.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Very good Cyan, you really can learn very fast in any field¡±


    Cyan could not help but to feel a little embarrassed, it was not unusual for people to praise him back in his world, being in sports, martial arts or grades, but those were mostly empty praises, and he only care about those coming from his own family and close friends most of the time, but his Master praises were so honest and straightforward that Cyan wished he could be praised by him every day, instead of being called stupid each time.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Nevertheless saying so would turn him back into a stupid kid in front of Arlom eyes, so he tried very hard for his thoughts not being reflected in his face.


    In the other hand, Arlom nodded his head while thinking ¡®at least he is trying to hide his thoughts now¡¯ while letting out a sigh.


    It was still too early to be called a successes, but at least Cyan stupid face was becoming less stupid in Arlom mind.


    [Arlom]: ¡°I think you are ready, we will first gather the food for lunch for a few hours, after that, we will start with the new training, here take this supplies with you just in case, and here are some medicines and potions, and here is more water¡­ and this, and that, and you will definitely need this¡±


    Soon enough half the inventory of Cyan was filled with the items that Arlom was keep pouring at him, they were supplies and other miscellaneous stuff that Arlom keep pouring at him nonstop, if not for that he has took a lot of time explaining how the bag works and the history behind it and they need it to gather food, Arlom may as well past all of his item into Cyan inventory bag, maybe Arlom was being a little over protective, but it was in a good way, at least that¡¯s how Cyan thought of Arlom actions.


    Cyan nodded his head, his new training will beginning very soon, he was getting over his head, but Arlom was taking everything very seriously, even a simple task as gathering food, was an enormous task in here, actually Cyan was very surprise that Arlom had agreed with his request so easily at first, but he could understand it was not an easy task at all.


    He needs to come back to reality now, being praised by his Master and receiving an inventory bag was a happy occurrence but, reality doesn¡¯t wait for anyone, after he helped Arlom with his task the new training will be waiting for him, Cyan mood grew more serious.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Come, follow me¡±


    After saying that, Arlom started to walk away until he stopped in front of a wall in the cave, the wall was in the opposite direction from the tunnel he has come out the first time, Arlom did not mind Cyan surprise face, and then he give it a good punch to the wall, after that, the wall started to move away, and like a hidden door a new tunnel appeared behind it.


    Cyan could realize now, apart for the initial tunnel he had woken up for the first time when he just arrived to this cave, there was no other place to go, this was because the exit was hidden since the beginning, the was a form of protection to Cyan, so he would not run away from Arlom, but now Arlom was showing him where the exit was, and with it, his trust that Cyan would not do something so incredibly stupid in the near future like running away.


    Cyan could understand Arlom intentions, letting out a sigh he started to walk after Arlom, this was his first trip outside this cave, after 4 days of being inside it, he has just realized that he didn¡¯t knew practically anything about the outside forest, since his arrival he has being hiding inside a cave, now this was his first big step into the forest, Cyan could only feel the pressure around him incrementing.


    Reaching at the end of the tunnel, Cyan started to feel a wave of heat that was coming not from inside of him but from the front, and the heat grew more with each step he took, as well as the strong orange light that was coming from the end of the tunnel, this was the same type of light that illuminated the ceiling of cave, he could finally see from were that light was coming out, it was coming out from heat itself.


    Because the tunnel was a straight line, there was nothing blocking his view, he could see it clearly now, a water fall where there was not water falling but lava, and he felt a great amount of heat making his face twist, his fist steps to go outside the cave and he has already reached a dead end even before he went out.


    It don¡¯t looked like there was a way to walk between the hot lava and exit the cave, no, he was not even able to come any closer to that, ¡®is this was a joke? Did Arlom had pick out the wrong exit?¡¯ Cyan could only think.


    Looking over Arlom, he was dangerously close to lava, if he stretched his arm just a little bit, he could surely touch the lava, and nevertheless he was waiting for Cyan like he was looking over the sun rise in the horizon, unaffected by the heat.


    Arlom was seemly immune to the heat that was nearly putting Cyan to his knees, nevertheless Cyan took a closer to Arlom figure, and he could see a faintly blueish mantle, covering around Arlom, a mantle he was familiar with.


    ¡®So that¡¯s how he is doing it¡¯ clenching his fist Cyan has understood what is this all about, a test for him.


    Closing his eyes, Cyan asked mana to please hear his call once again, and form a sort of protection against the heat, surprisingly he was not using Athem language but one he was more familiar with, the one he has knew all his life, never minding the language, mana was listing to his intentions very clearly and formed a somewhat of a mantle similar to the one Arlom was showing off, which was excellent in protecting him from the heat, now Cyan could start walking to Arlom position once again.


    But after reaching Arlom position, Cyan was panting like he has just run a marathon instead of walking 100 meters, even with the mantle of mana over him, the heat was almost unbearable for him, standing next to Arlom was already him reaching his upmost limits, maybe this could be considered a victory for him, but for Arlom.


    Arlom turned his head around to look at Cyan and shook his head, the mantle of Cyan was still too crude after all, there were too many holes in it, maybe he was expecting too much of Cyan, his own judgment has being clouded over Cyan rapid development, maybe it was a bad idea to take Cyan out for today, he should be training Cyan a little more before¡­


    ¡®No! There is no time, Cyan doesn¡¯t need a father that worries about him, he needs a ruthless Master that push him pass his limit¡¯ Arlom could only hit himself, he was being too soft, and this was a mistake.


    Before Arlom could continue pondering if this was a good idea or not, he could only clench his fist, he has being thinking like this before, he has being thinking like this more and more without him releasing it, it was a huge change from the merciless Arlom he was just a few days ago, but he needs to put an stop to this now.


    Letting out a mental sigh, Arlom could only ask for forgiveness in his own mid before forcefully took Cyan hand and guided right into the lava.


    Cyan could not help but to screen in panic as his Master was going mad, even if the mana was forming a protection from the heat, his hand would surely be burned to cinders, he has just learned the way to past his intentions to mana and¡­ ¡®Wait¡­ why I did not feel any pain at all, what is this?¡¯


    Taking his hand out, Cyan could see that it was perfectly fine, even it was in surrounded in blue smoke, it had not suffer any damage, and Arlom was clearing showing him the status of his hand for him to see.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Just now, I used my own mana to protect your hand, but I will not be always there to protect you, do you understand it Cyan?¡±


    Cyan wanted to hit this stupid Master of his, that has scared him to death, nevertheless, he could understand Arlom actions, they were about to step out into the forest, and a lot of things could happen out there.


    Arlom would not always be there to protect him against everything and he himself needs to be able to cross the lava if he wants to keep moving forward, something that 3 days ago he would had thought it was something impossible to do, he was now giving it a hard thought, how can he cross this lava?


    Even if he tried to past his intentions to mana, she could only shook her head, she had no a clue, and at least this is as far as she could do right now, even if she has her own will, she needs to understand Cyan intentions, vague intentions could not be fully understood.


    Cyan could only let out a sigh in defeat.


    Even if Cyan was progressing very fast in his understandings of the law of mana, all his conversations with her, where in a subconscious level, he could only transmit intentions but not words, guiding his own mana was a lot harder he thought it would be after his initials achievements, he had a long way to go now, however in this forest, there was not a lot of time.


    And even Arlom was still protecting him against everything, nevertheless he was still stuck between a hard place and a burning place. Let alone touching it, he can¡¯t even come close enough to try it, the blue skin that was surrounding Cyan started to evaporate at a very fast rate, the more closer he got to the lava.


    Nevertheless¡­ Arlom nodded his head, before Cyan mantle was completely extinguish.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Did you quite well Cyan, I didn¡¯t expect for you to come this close, now come¡±


    Extending his hands over Cyan shoulder, the surrounding blue skin that was protecting Arlom from the lava, started to extend itself to Cyan, until it cover him from head to toes.


    Now Cyan could not feel the heat of the lava at all, and Cyan could not help to ponder, what was the difference between the two blue mantles, the blue skin of both looked very similar but the end results were as night and day, Cyan could only let out a sigh of defeat, he has a long way to go now, nevertheless, he will not give up, before they crossed the lava, he passed his intentions to mana to do one more stilly thing.


    Crossing the lava fall, Cyan and Arlom left the cave together for the first time in the morning of the 4 day that Cyan was inside the forest.

 Chapter 21: The black tower

    Chapter 21: The black tower


    While crossing the lava Cyan was afraid the weight of the lava would crush him like an ant, but the mana armor that Arlom has put over him not only made him immune to the heat but also supported the weight of the lava for him.


    Cyan could only be more amazed by Arlom, and the strength of the blue armor that was protecting him, Cyan understood once again, how strong his Master really was, to be able to hold back such huge amount of weight and heat without letting out a single drop of swept, the things his master could achieved were always endlessly inside Cyan mind.


    Nevertheless he could not remain under Arlom protection forever, Arlom previous words were still ringing inside his head, gritting his teeth Cyan could only vow to himself to use this chance to become stronger and learn from his Master limitless strength.


    After passing through the lava a huge green forest could be seen in front of Cyan, it was extending endlessly in every direction trough the horizon, looking over his surrounding Cyan noticed that they were in the middle of a black mountain that was soaring through the skies, he could now take out a clear picture of how huge this place was leaving him with an amazed face.


    The position they were in was sticking out like a sore thump, if this was the super-secret hideout of Arlom, this position was surely already known to everyone, nevertheless, his positions should still hold some significance, this was the opposite of hiding, it was more like the tower of a king should live.


    Turning around Cyan could see Arlom in another light, he was more aware than ever of the status his Master has in this forest.


    Before Cyan could continue feeling more amazed by the view someone interrupted him


    [Arlom]: "Did you finish standing there like an idiot? If you did we have things to do now"


    Arlom pay no heed to Cyan amazed face while he was looking around, he doesn''t have any time to waste here they need to move out, Arlom needs to execute his plan as fast as he could, the sooner the better.


    Covering his body in his mana armor to support his body once again, Arlom started to run using the black stairs that were at the edge of the road.


    While descending through the stairs Arlom could not help but to think about the skill he was using right now to support his own weakened body.


    The mana armor, this was the most basic of all the skill that humans could learn on their own and more than a spell or skill, it was more like the natural defense mechanism of the human race against the other races, it was a skill born of necessity more than anything else.


    Even if it was the most basic of skills, it was the most important one, some people believe that this mana armor Arlom was using, was the manifestation of the soul itself as it burned different from person to person.


    That was because even if they looked at like, each person mana armor was different in capabilities, but nevertheless all of them do the same task, to protect and support the body, which was a good thing to have in this forest, the stronger your control over the mana the stronger the armor would be.


    In a world of super human beings there was no shield nor protection that could block a sword slash at supersonics speeds, what would be the point in something bulky that would not work as protection what so ever, this mana armor was the innate protection of the weakest of the fourth races, the humans, and even if it was the most basic of skills, Cyan has learned it in a single day.


    Letting out a sigh, Arlom turned back to see Cyan following closely behind him wearing a faintly blue protection layer, his speed was slow to Arlom standards, but it was night and day from the Cyan of 3 days ago, Arlom could only left out another sigh, while thinking this kid was totally cheating he must be totally cheating to reach a level were most people would take a year, in the bright side maybe not everything was hopeless.


    Arlom could only remain in silence while the descended the black mountain and in contrast with the blackness of the mountain, was the glowing orange lava that was coming from the top of the mountain that was above the clouds, even if he was pretty high above the ground, this was still not in the top that was hidden behind the white clouds and it was impossible to be seen by Cyan.


    After looking up, Cyan could notice that this black mountain has weird shape, it was perfectly rectangular, because he was running around it, he could understand the shape of the mountain, and even if Cyan had not any fear of heights, running at the edge of a black rectangular mountain without anything to hold onto got to his nerves.


    But even if Cyan was very afraid of falling off, he could only steel his mind, surely Arlom will drop him off the cliff himself if he were to know, taking one last look to the bottom ground Cyan let out a sigh.


    They were hundreds of meter over the ground, and because the mountain was completely black, Cyan was feeling he was standing in a black void, he felt like if all the ground under him was twisting, nevertheless something else has draw his attention at the bottom, making all his dizziness to disappear and his mind to regain focus once again in that last one look.


    It was the lave that was falling from the top of the black mountain, and it was forming a pool at the bottom, but that was it, there was not river nor a new mountain being create with cold rocks, even if the lava has burned the near surrounding trees, it was not incrementing its size, nor it was be spreading to all directions.


    After being 3 days inside the cave, Cyan knew that the constants glowing effect that was coming off the ceiling was the lava moving because of the temperature changes and the intensity of light also changes throughout the day, he could take a wild guess that, this lava had days flowing out from the tower for at least three days, nevertheless that pool was too small, something was sucking the lava back to the ground.


    The flow of lava was not stopping or slowing down, but the lava pool never grew in size, it was quite bizarre to look at, but more bizarre than that was the mountain itself, it was completely black and in a perfectly rectangular shape, this should be a something at like a volcano, but it was completely rectangular black mountain, it was definite something that was not formed naturally but it was made by some intelligent species, maybe it was made by humans.


    Cyan forcefully put out this questions for later and letting out one last sigh, Cyan felt he had achieved something after being able keep running in this void.


    The road width was enough for two persons could walk side by side, but because no light was reflect on the surface, it has played some nasty tricks on Cyan mind, if wasn¡¯t that he was on top of this road right now, he could never guess there was a road to behind with.


    After walking around once again, he took his eyes away from the road and turned to look over his Master that was running in front of him, while pointing out to the lava pool, he asked.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master where all the lava is going when it hits the ground?¡±


    Arlom stopped in his feet, scaring to death to Cyan.


    After looking over the lava and then to Cyan, he could only shake his head, like saying ¡®To not even know that sigh¡¯ Of course how could Cyan know even the most basic of things, Arlom could only be remained once again, that Cyan knowledge was very limited.


    Nevertheless he will answer this questions of his, maybe they can have something to talk about while the descending the mountain, after all, Arlom was worry that this would become a silent walk outside, even if it did not show up in his face, Arlom like to talk a lot and this it is not something he cannot do most of the time.


    Resuming in a walking speed now, Arlom took some time to explain thing of the forests. While they were descending, Cyan was hearing Arlom talking about load of things as well as why the lava never accumulated at the ground.


    It was something Cyan could had not believed if not because Arlom did not have any reason to lie about this.


    [Arlom]: ¡°When the lava reach the bottom it gets devoured by the lava worms that live inside the pool, they absorbs the heat of the molten rocks while releasing a huge amount vapor in the processes, this vapor is 50% refined mana and 50% water¡±


    Cyan could hardly processes this, worms that live inside the lava and they eat it too? But this was not the end of Arlom historyUnauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Then the lava worms go deep underground were is a lot hotter and this is where they would excreted out the cold rock, that cold rock would heat up slowly becoming lava once more, then it would join the flow of lava that exit at the top of this mana gathering tower, were the flow is controlled to form that small pool, were the lava worms live in, forming like that a cycle¡±


    Cyan could only speed up while trying to follow behind Arlom that was starting to walk faster and faster again, while explain him about the function of this tower, Cyan could not help but to think this can¡¯t be called walking anymore but running, nevertheless he wanted to hear the reason for this tower.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master so this tower recollects that mana?¡±


    Arlom could only shook his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°This tower was made with the intention to regulate the flow of the lava, for harvesting the refined mana that the worm release you need to do it yourself, however the one that controls the tower controls the flow of lava, and without this the pool would dried out and the lava worms would dispersed, even if you reactivated it, it would take one hundreds of years form the lava worms to come again, and you would have to cross your fingers so the flow of lava doesn¡¯t stop¡­¡±


    Even if Arlom was talking pretty dark stuff, like how much fighting has occur because of this black towers, Cyan eyes light up like starts now and interrupted his Master explication.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master, Master can I also help you recollected the refined mana too?¡±


    Arlom could only laugh to Cyan childish curiosity and eagerness to be of help.


    [Arlom]: ¡°HAHAHA, of course you can, I tell you what, after you finish your new training I will take you there myself¡±


    Of course Arlom will never spoil a surprise for Cyan.


    In the other hand. After hearing his Master reply, Cyan could grew exited and speed up again, going outside the cave has already proved to be worth it, his master has gave him even another task he could help in after this one, nevertheless his curiosity only grew more maybe there are other thing he could be of help in the future too.


    While Arlom was debating to himself if he should speed up again, or tell his disciple about the surprise hidden in the lava pool, only to look at that st¡­ stunned face Cyan always put out, Cyan interrupted his train of thought yet again with another question, bring him back to reality.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Right Master what are the uses that refined mana has?¡±


    Of course Cyan was asking this because, maybe he can also be of help in this area in the future, it is better to learn the sooner.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Oh right, I haven¡¯t told about that, It can be used to make magic tools, it can also be used to forge weapons or it can even be crystalized to fuel portable spells, that will not consume your own mana, it has a lot of other uses, but the principal use for refined mana is as the primal material to make health and mana potion, if you look to the north you can see another tower, and there is one to the south, one to the east and the last one to the west, even inside here, five of this towers were build¡±


    For some reason Arlom face grew serious, and his mood turned sour, even if Cyan took notice of this, he did not know the reason of why, and just asking about it would be not polite of him.


    Looking over the distance Cyan could see there were two more towers very far away in opposite directions, if not for they being so tall and Arlom had pointed them out, he would had miss them.


    ¡®Who has come out with this crazy idea to build this towers?¡¯ This was the only thing Cyan could only think.


    Of course this tower was not place at here at random, and them the worms has to come from somewhere, and the continue flow of lava, how do you tame worms that live inside the lava?, even Arlom himself need his mana mantle to protect him for the lava, his body was not made of steel right?


    This and other thoughts were it Cyan mind while he was keeping quiet while following behind Arlom.


    Arlom could almost read Cyan thoughts, even if he was behind him, he could predict what were the thoughts of Cyan, reading someone mind was a crucial skill to keep your head inside here, and maybe there would be a day that Cyan could hide his thought for him, but that day was not today.


    Nevertheless before Arlom could say anything, Cyan asked him again.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master how the idea to build this towers has come to be?¡±


    Arlom wanted to laugh to this question but how could he. Towers that spit lava to feed worms to gather refined mana? If you said that to anyone, being called crazy was the least of your problems, nevertheless someone has thought about it and done at the end.


    Arlom slowed down to walking speed again, narrating a history cannot be dole while running after all.


    [Arlom]: ¡°We have a little more of time, so I may as well tell you the history, A long time ago, when the uses of refine mana were few but still very precious, a crazy mage that grew tired of the current process to gather the refined mana because it was slow, painful not to mention very expensive, while it could only produce a very small amount just enough for a single potion, left into a journey to find alternatives and in the end he had found it¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°The lava worms?¡±


    Arlom nodded


    [Arlom]: ¡°Exactly right, before the lava worms were discovered, they were only two ways to harvested refined mana, one was from plants and trees but these would only generated one drop of refined mana per tree, entire forest were destroyed by this method alone, but it was very expensive method and there are other races that loves trees so this was a hassle to deal with, and the second method was¡­¡±


    Before he could continue Cyan interrupted him, there was something bothering Cyan mind that need it to be cleared out of the way first.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master what is the need of refine mana? Is not mana all around us? Why people would need to harvest it?¡±


    Arlom nodded his head


    [Arlom]: ¡°Actually I am sure you had noticed it already, but the mana inside you it is not the same as the outside, even if you can control the mana outside you still need to use the refined mana inside you to do it and that would expend your own mana, to replenish this expended mana you need mana of the same category, so you would take a mana potion, or you just can wait and it would be replenished back naturally, so you can guess what is the other method to gather refine mana right?¡±


    Cyan could only trembled inside his mind, the mana outside it was not the same as the one inside him, but nevertheless he would refined it naturally inside him and this refined mana was need it to make potions, the second method to gather mana was of course, gathering it directly from a human body.


    Cyan could only grit his teeth¡¯s while answering.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Humans¡±


    Arlom nodded his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Yes, the humans have a surprising capabilities to refine mana inside them, even if not a huge amount like other species, they are the fastest, so other races declared war on the humans to slave them, and even the same humans slaved their own kind to create mana farms¡±


    Nevertheless Cyan already knew how that war ended, he could guess that the thing that have save the humans for becoming slaves was the inventory bag.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Then, Master that mage was tired of using human slaves to gather refined mana?¡±


    Arlom nodded his head


    [Arlom]: ¡°Some say he have fallen in love with one of his slaves and he wanted to free all of the slaves, or maybe he thought gathering mana from humans was really too slow, and unless you make half the human race a slave he would never finished his experiments, nevertheless¡­¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°After he discovered the lava worms he name them as such, his naming senses were a little bit lacking but after being the first human to discover them the gods recognized that as the named but I digress, after seeing that they could refine huge amounts of refine mana that no contemporary method could produce was just being released into the air, that mage went into a frenzy, and he have come out with a crazy idea that no human would actually think off¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°To capture them, training and them harvesting them?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°That¡¯s right, after he presented his discovery to the world, at first everyone thought he was a genius, but after everybody that he misled to think that the lava worms where harmless creatures, found about the true, everybody thought he was crazy to even think he could train such ¡°warm and soft¡± creatures, he even use those exact words himself at one time, those words were immortalized in history after a whole town laughed for an entire day and night after hearing them just when a group of mages brought an image of the lava worm into tow with those words being written down below¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°After that, everyone thought he was the craziest human in the planet, nevertheless¡­¡±


    Cyan was getting a clearer picture of what a lava worm is, and maybe trying to help out Arlom with all the tasks was a bad idea after all, but he has already said he would do it and Cyan was not someone that would back down.


    Nevertheless Cyan eyes were shining like a stars, what an amazing history of someone that everyone thought it was nuts, but he succeeded at the end, Cyan could only felt inspired by it.


    That crazy mage did something unthinkable at the end, the black towers are proof he was right after all.


    Before Arlom could continue Cyan interrupt him.


    [Cyan]: ¡°He went and did it right master? He show them to all that laugh at him and looked down on him, it was really possible and he manage to train and harvest the mana from the lava worms¡±


    Arlom could only let out a loud laughter while shaking his head.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Of course not, even if he was crazy enough to think out this idea, he was not enough crazy to try it out himself¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Ah?¡±


    All Cyan illusions shatter in an instant.


    [Arlom]: ¡°That is why he had misled everyone so they could try to harvest the mana in his stead, I think he was a genius for thinking like this, it was not but after he has passed away that some was crazy enough to even try it out¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°And this next person succeed in doing so right master?¡±


    Arlom could only shake his head once again, Cyan was being so foolish.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Of course no, did you think anyone can get a success in their first try? That person failed, and the next one after that and so on, until the 13<sup>th</sup> tried, is that some had managed to do it, but nobody knows how that person did it, nevertheless after that build the first black tower and then trained the first batch of worms, then those worms trained the other worms and black towers started to show up everywhere where a heat node was¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Now everyone build the same exact copy of the original back tower over and over again, because the worms only would recognized those back towers to form their nests, after you find a heat node and build a black tower and start pumping out the lava, the worms would show themselves after one hundred to two hundred years, nevertheless after that, they would not leave until the flow of mana is cut, or the lava worms are put in danger, and those worms are the descendants of the first batch that the legendary lava worm rider has trained¡±


    Cyan could only felt astonished trying to process all of this but before he could.


    [Arlom]: ¡°We are here¡±.


    Even if Cyan was having a lot of fun listening to his Master histories of the past, it is time to go back to the present.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Get ready, we are about to enter the forests, remember always stay behind me, always remember that path we took, if you feel something is off put your armor up, but conserver it while you can, and Cyan¡­¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°Yes Master?¡±


    [Arlom]: ¡°Never lower you guard¡±

 Chapter 22: Wild Horned Boar

    Chapter 22: Wild Horned Boar


    Being in front of the forests for the second time, Cyan was getting a little shaken but backing down now was not an option for him.


    His Master has previously warned to not drop down his guard and he could only nod and remain cautious of his surroundings, luckily for him, his senses of danger were very shard indeed, even his most of skills were sealed, the skill that his title as the Hunters King Apprentice gave him, Hunter instincts was still active and working.


    <table width="0">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Hunter King Apprentice


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    The hunter king has taken you as his only disciple.


    +5 Agility


    +3 All stats


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skills:


    [Hunter instincts (passive)] You can feel the danger in your surroundings


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Nevertheless Cyan didn¡¯t knew the full reach of this skill so he could just not drop his guard, but with not sing of warning near him and with Arlom being in front of him, there was nothing to fear, he was pretty confident ¡®it was safe¡¯, well at least for now.


    Of course he will not take this as a walk in the park and drop his guard down but he felt he was cheating Arlom somehow, ¡®maybe I should use this time to test the limits of this skill¡¯ Cyan thought, the concept of skills was not new to him, but knowing about it and knowing how to use them was entirely different.


    Nevertheless, this skill was a passive skill, something that was always active and it was not a conscious work. He has felt the effects of the skill Hunter instincts before, so he was sure he would be alerted ahead of time but how much time, distance the danger would be and how fast was still left unknown to him, not to mention the concept of what the skills thinks something is dangerous, even more than that, do a skill can even think?, Cyan was could only sigh, like always he got not answerers, he could only do the second task Arlom has told to him to do, ¡®always remember the path¡¯.


    Cyan took out his mind of meaningless tasks and focused into his second task, track down his current position. Using the three black tower that were still very visible as a reference, Cyan started to make a mental map to serve as his guide, funnily enough even he has never tried to do such a thing in the past he felt it was not hard to do at all, no, the more he advanced deep into the forest, the more he knew the path he has took before, maybe it was too easy Cyan thought.


    He felt he could easily trace his path back to the cave without even the need of using the black towers as references and more amazing than that, this was not until back to the cave, but back to the first day he has arrived, even if he was unconscious for the majority of the time the first day, it was like if something was guiding him, it was a similar feeling as his skill Hunter instincts yet it was different, it was a quite puzzling feeling but Cyan could only carry on with the task at hand, while trying to see the bright side, ¡®sigh at least keeping track of my position and the time are cover now, maybe this is also a skill of mine?¡¯


    Cyan could not see his own skills right now, so he could only make a wild guess, nevertheless maybe it was he was remembering the path back to the first day but ¡®Serah¡¯ name popup in Cyan mind, as her last moments also did, he did know why but he felt very saddened after remember it, it was not something he could put into words.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Cyan if you get distracted you will die¡±


    What brought back Cyan to reality was his Master voice, a stiff warning was issue in Cyan direction, Cyan could only nod, and start walking behind Arlom was again, while putting one more thought away.


    After a few hours of following being Arlom and roaming in what it looked to be an aimless direction, Arlom founded a trace and started showing to Cyan how to track down their prey this time around.


    [Arlom]: ¡°We are lucky Cyan, it seems a boar is not far from here, you can see here where the boar marked his territory¡± was said by Arlom while he was hold dirt with his hand.


    Cyan on the other hand did not looked that optimistic about it.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Master that¡¯s¡­..¡±


    Nerveless, Cyan did not said anything else, he was not capable of saying to Arlom that what Arlom was holding was not dirt, dirt was supposed to be black not brown.


    [Arlom]: ¡°What it is?¡±


    [Cyan]: ¡°It is nothing, forget I said something¡±


    Arlom could only let it go, Cyan was starting to put that face he always put when he said something stupid, and this was surely not the time for that.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go¡±


    Arlom started to teach Cyan how to follow the marks on trees, the signs on the ground and the smell in the air, actually he could just find the boar with no problem, but this was a very important lesson to Cyan.


    In the other hand, Cyan thought this was a very hard task to do, everything looked the same to him, how can a crack in a tree can be a mark when all the trees around have cracks on them, and smell was the same everywhere, it smelled like grass, leafs and dirt, with the exception of some pile of¡­ dirt that smelled different, nevertheless this was a sign for Arlom that they were in the correct direction to the boar.


    With his Master tracking down the boar, actually finding it was pretty easy to do Cyan thought, based on Arlom observations, there where marks everywhere, nevertheless Cyan thought something was not right, and it shouldn¡¯t be harder to find food in here? Nevertheless, Arlom did not mind the stupid thoughts that were currently in the stupid head of Cyan, he just carried on with the task to teach Cyan how to track down a prey, any prey in this woods.


    After a few more hours they finally meet with an wild horned boar, it was very huge, as it was the same height of Cyan that was 1.6 meters, and should weight about 500 to 650 kg, it was obviously something a normal human would never dare to hunt without bringing a very big gun, even worse, it was a wild animal with a dangerous look to it, the two horns in the front and teeth looked very threating to Cyan, as soon the boar was in sight, his sense of danger started to ring inside his mind as well as a blue screen was shown in front of him.


    Cyan was alarmed by it, this thing was a huge, no wonder it did not bother to hide himself, being this huge, and it must also have a terrible strength. Cyan could only sigh at his own naivety of how big a boar should be.


    After giving some thought Cyan was secretly glad that his skill was still working just fine, he had not felt any danger in the 4 hours that they were out hunting in the forest, but it was working just fine now. Cyan was starting to believe that the skill that senses danger must be broken, shouldn¡¯t the skill hunter instincts ring like crazy in this forest?


    At least that¡¯s what he thought from Arlom description of the forest, as only certain doom awaits for you if you ever dare to step in, but as he entered the forest nothing felt any different than before, Cyan could only draw a few conclusions, from this, one, his skill must be broken, two, Arlom has lied and the forest was not that dangerous, three, the hunter kings protection is still in place and that why there is not ¡®any¡¯ danger right now,  fourth, there is danger and his skill is working just fine, it is just that he was putting too much hope to this skill of his as something omnipotent skill, and fifth the worse conclusion of all was, ¡®he has always being in mortal danger¡¯, going outside or staying inside the cave with Arlom did not make any different, his normal status was always in mortal danger.


    Cyan could only sighed, it would had being very foolish to go outside the cave without some form of protection, thanks to Arlom and his skill, he could be a little fearless, but after stepping out outside he was ready to feel danger all the time, but he felt none, at the end, not feeling any danger what so ever was more nerve racking to him that the actual danger itself, if not for Arlom, he could had my as well gone crazy half way through it.


    Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, but Cyan felt like exaggerating after fourth excruciating hours of following after brown dirt.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    But now with his skill working again, everting will be just fine, he could now easily discarded option, one, two and five now, nevertheless he still did not know how his skill function, after all, after the boar was insight, his skill activated instantly, but the boar was not seem to be aware of their presence, or maybe it was, but it was pretending to not notice them? Are all boars this smart?


    Putting this thoughts to the side, Cyan started to think now how exactly they would kill this huge thing and then dragged it back to the cave? Cyan could only wait besides Arlom waiting to see him in action once again, turning his head around with the anticipation that he could see Arlom in action one more time and learn for him.


    What he found, was a calm-serious expression, looking back at him, his sense of danger ringed once again and stronger than before, ¡®wait why my skill is warning about my Master, it was not warning me about the boar?¡¯, it was redundant thought but he was getting a bad feeling about this.


    With a wave of his hand, a spear appeared in Arlom hands, it was a silver spear, with a shard point that it looked more like a needled of 1.5 meters long than an spear, Cyan himself was 1.6 meter long, so it was almost as tall as him but it was something short for the 2 meter long Arlom.


    Before Cyan could said something, Arlom asked something that did not feel quite right to ask in this moment.


    [Arlom]: "Cyan do you remember the way to the cave right? Like I told you to remember?"


    Of course he did, Cyan was very serious on not being a dead weight for Arlom and he didn¡¯t wanted to be send back without actually doing anything, so he has made a very diligent mental map that he was proud of, but that huge lava throne where Arlon sits, could still be seen even from here, there is no way for him to not know where he is and to lose his way.


    Nevertheless thanks to his own hard work in this 4 hours he had a very clear imagine of the route they have taken so far, Arlom had not lied, this forest was not a walk in the park, is full of unknown dangers and even if he could see the black obelisk, he could not just walk in a straight line, and this was the reason why Arlom has took such a rounded way to navigate the forest, and that¡¯s why Cyan has not felt any hint of danger so far, at least that was the only conclusion Cyan could think of the aimless path was for, right until they had found out a trace to follow was when the seemly aimless wandered stopped.


    Cyan did not know what was to come, but he could imagined, so he gave Arlom a strong nod with his head, reaffirming to himself one again his compromise and the reason he has asked to come along with Arlom to gather food, nevertheless, he still hold some doubts as to why Arlom would ask this question as well his sense of danger being active, nevertheless, he could see in Arlom eyes that his Master did not have any ¡®bad intentions¡¯ inside him, but it seems his skill don¡¯t take ¡®intentions¡¯ into account.


    But why is activating now and not when for example Arlom was throwing rocks at him? Was he not in danger at that time? Being hurt or pain doesn¡¯t count as being in danger? The time when he felt danger coming from his Master was because of Dark-Arlom, back then, Cyan could clearly see Dark-Arlom clouding his Master sight and he was surrounded dangerous cold air that was his killing intent.


    But this time there was not killing intent in Arlom and his eyes were crystal clear, even if they were still hiding stuff from him, Cyan would not peek into things Arlom doesn¡¯t want him to see, leaving that aside, Cyan could only make even less sense of how his own skill to sense danger works, in the end he only could try to ask.


    [Cyan]: "Master I do, but why do you¡­."


    But.


    Before Cyan could continue, Arlom shrugged his shoulders pretending to ignore the fact he has cut right into the middle of Cyan questioning and like nothing he continue speaking.


    [Arlom]: "It¡¯s nothing too important, it is just in case something goes wrong, you never know what can happen, any way let us not waste any more time"


    Just as he said that, Arlom gave the silver spear to Cyan, in the other hand, the interrupted Cyan was just giving a confuse expression of someone asking ¡®what you want me to do with this¡¯ but it was also the expression of someone understanding the facts ¡®as expected¡¯.


    What is a spear? It was a weapon for attacking not for defending, it has a long reach and can be use from the back as well in the front, but if Arlom was giving him a spear, there was only one meaning behind it that Cyan could thought of.


    Looking over the spear that was in his hands and then looking to his Master again, Arlom raised his right hand and with his finger, he was pointing out in the direction of the horned boar, Arlom expression was of someone asking something like ''What are you waiting for? Didn''t you wanted to help? Then go there and ¡®help¡¯¡¯.


    A sigh in defeat escaped Cyan, he was not that stupid to pretend to not understand Arlom indications, he could obvious understand what this all about, he was the one that asked to be put to help, but he never expected to be this way, even if he wanted to say no, the look in Arlom face was not of some you could say ¡®no¡¯ or ¡®but¡¯ or ¡®I don¡¯t understand¡¯, this was exactly what his sense of danger was warning him, not the boar but what Arlom himself would do if Cyan did not acted like Arlom wanted him to do.


    He could only think that if he made the ¡®wrong¡¯ choice, Arlom would surely say something like ¡®wrong¡¯ and throw him together with the spear to fight the horned boar, or even worse, he would be thrown without even the spear in his hands to fight.


    Cyan could only start to inspect the silver spear Arlom has just gave him, there was no way to run away from this now, nevertheless he felt like crying, that boar did not looked like an easy target at all, ¡®at least you could have found me an easier target master¡¯ Cyan could only retort to himself with a bitter laugh inside himself.


    Nevertheless the spear Arlom has gave him was very sharp and sturdy, and it has a nice weight to it, it felt very comfortable in Cyan hands, it didn''t look like it would break easily, even if he was not familiar with spears this spear felt quite familiar to him, as he was thinking that a blue window pop up into the thin air in front of him.


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    Moon - Twin Silver Spear (unique)


    Lv.: -- (??)


    Description: A Master blacksmith, made a very powerful spear under the threats of a noble man to his family, nevertheless, after he created it, he was so afraid of the power of his own creation and the nefarious purposes that noble man holds, that he tried to destroy it, nevertheless he only managed to split it in two halves sun and moon, and after failing to destroy the spear the noble man got a wind of the Master blacksmith intentions and ordered his troops to wipe out his family and to bring the spear to him; in the end the blacksmith, his family, and the spear whereabouts was never heard again, someone say the noble man found them, others said that they took refuge with another of fourth races.


    Attack: 155/500


    Durability: 254/500


    Defense: 1/500


    [Stats]


    +5/50 Strength


    +5/50 Agility


    - 5/50 Wisdom


    -5/50 Intelligence


    [Skills]:


    [Skill Slot (empty)]: None.


    [Skill Slot (empty)]: None.


    [Spiral Throw (active)]: (In combination with the user). After being imbue with enough mana, the spear will start to rotate, if throw at the right moment it would gain a huge penetration force.


    [Twin Spiral Throw (active) (combination)]: Even if the sun and the moon can¡¯t be together, After being split into two halves, they still refuse to be separate from each other for too long, like the sun chasing the moon, after throwing one or the other, if you are still holding onto sun or moon, the other halve will come back. (You better be on the lookout for that kid).


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Cyan was speechless, this thing was an actual item, and for the look of it, this was only one half of the item, nevertheless he did not had any other item to compare to, when he received the inventory bag no blue window pop up, and when Arlom purred a mountain of items for him to put into the inventory bag, even if he did not have time to check all the items, the ones he did check there was not a blue window popping up like now, everything else was just a plain name or just ???


    ¡®The hell¡¯, Cyan though, ¡®this System is just too broken, it works just fine sometimes, and the next I only get (???) question marks, my skills works just fine but then they don¡¯t, I got an spear I got nothing to compare it to¡¯ So what if he could see the spear stats, to Cyan this just were random numbers in a blue screen, Cyan let out a sigh, ¡®forget it, if Arlom has gave this spear it must be good¡¯.


    Adjusting his body Cyan tried some practice with the spear, even if he had never used a spear before in his life, he had trained with the bow and the sword back in earth, in the dojo where his foster father was an instructor, he has learned about martials since he was little, even if he was not a master he could beat kids one grade above him with no problems.


    What Cyan lacked in talent he always put it in effort, nevertheless the still felt the spear was quite familiar to him, it was the same felling when he trace his mental map, he felt familiar to the path like he was remembering something he has forgotten a long time ago but at the same time he did not remember anything at all.


    Nevertheless, after getting more familiar with the spear, Cyan started to think in a plan, he could not just charged in without giving any thought at all right? That would be dumb if he did that.


    ¡®How can I beat that boar that is stronger than me, and his hide looks very sturdy and the worse part is¡­¡¯


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    <td width="274">


    Lv.?? Horned Boar (Boss)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡®That thing is a boss¡¯


    Cyan could only put a bitter smile after being remained once again of those blue screen that did not say anything helpful and were something he could only see, he has tested them before and Arlom was unaware of their existences, but even so, some windows said (sealed) for him but they work for Arlom, even if not in windows from, because of that he could not see his own level nor his status, nobody can tell him how strong he has become in just three days, nevertheless that doesn¡¯t matter right now to Cyan.


    Looking in the direction of the boar once again, Cyan notice that somehow his presence was still hidden from the boar senses and that the boar was still not aware of their presence, in other circumstances, coming this close to this boar without alerting it of his presence would had being impossible.


    He found it weird for this the boar boss to be this careless, even for a boss level monster this was too much of careless, just as he was wondering why, he felt a tiny trace of mana over him, looking back he could realize what it was, when Arlom put his mana armor over him to cross the lava he has left something behind on him to hide his presence very well, and that¡¯s why the boar was still not aware of an amateur like Cyan coming this close to him.


    Cyan could put everting together now, and what he should be doing now.

 Chapter 23: One hitting a Tank

    Chapter 23: One hitting a Tank


    If Arlom has told him to do it, he would just do it, it was not a question of yes or no, but how and when, the how was obviously with this silver spear, and the when was right now, his sense of danger was telling him to do so, but to be send to deal with a boss as his first real enemy, Cyan could only laugh to his own bad luck, nevertheless a plan is in need.


    Because he was hidden under the veil of Arlom mana armor the boar could not detected him, Cyan could watch over the boar with no problem but he still didn¡¯t knew the limits of his camouflage, that¡¯s why he could only sit twenty meters away from the horned boar without coming any closer, the boar was still eating his food without a worry in the world.


    After making carefully observations to the horned boar, Cyan gathered his information and summarized it as next, ¡®First, that boar defenses look very though, that hide would be very hard to overcome, the muscles are very easy to spot, so being this big its strength should be ten times higher than mine, that is to assume we ignore the levels, and I am sure his endurance and stamina is also as huge too sigh, how can I even put scratch in that thing, that¡¯s not a boar but a tank¡¯.


    In actual fact in Cyan mind, the boar was more like an military graded armored tank, a true monster, he could only laugh to the silly thought of killing a tank with an shard stick, what a joke, nevertheless, for some reason he knew he should be able to do it, he somebody told him, he could move as fast as he did with his mana armor and that you could also cross lava and block all the heat just three days ago, he would only think of it as someone trying to prank him.


    Now he was seriously thinking how to kill a tank ¡®even a tank have a weakness, they should be slower and not every part has the same grade of defenses, I just need to find a critical point where to strike¡­ something like the engine¡­¡¯


    Cyan could only let out a sigh, be strength, defense, endurance or stamina he was inferior to the boar in almost all aspects but one¡­ speed.


    ¡®I am sure that after I put the mana armor and with the element of surprise I will be faster than it, then the only solution to win is to end the fight with one hit, and to do that I need to aim the spear to the best possible place, the engine¡¯


    The boar engine? Do boars have an engine? Of course they do, they are just called the heart, and to reach the heart he needs a long stick to poke it.


    This was it, the spear was always the answer, he will just has to use the skill of the spear, it was the first time using a skill other than the passive skill he always had with him, nevertheless Cyan did not have any fear that the skill would not work this time, after holding the spear for a while he knew how to activate the skill very easily, the rest of the skill was just him to actually throw the spear in the intended direction.


    Nevertheless time was running out, even if there could be a better plan, the boar will not stay there waiting for Cyan forever just eating his food, his window of opportunity was closing fast, with no other choice and not having a better plan, Cyan immediately surrounded his body with his mana armor.


    It was always a weird felling for him, he would only ask mana to lend him a hand and he could feel his body becoming faster and sturdier, like he was putting an armored suit that enhanced all of his abilities.


    Mana? What is that? For Cyan Mana was not something, not a tool but someone, a friend, but he only knew how to ask for her help and nothing more, he truly felt pathetic, wanting to become stronger on his own only to relied in someone else entirely, but now, it was not time to think about it and as time went on, Cyan realized how more and more he was putting things for a later time making he sigh once again, ¡®one obstacle at a time Cyan¡¯, Cyan told to himself, if Cyan tried to bring down all the obstacles in his path he will surely be crushed by them.


    Adjusting his breathe and without turning to look to Arlom or asking him for his approval of his own crazy plan, Cyan charged in at full speed in the direction where the horned boar was, the first attack will be the most important one, if he missed this attack the fight will only grow harder, and if he waited more time, the boar would found them or maybe even another unexpected situation would occur, he has to act now or never...


    As soon as the charged in, his sense of danger he felt from his Master, vanished and were replaced by a sense of danger coming from the boar in front of him, it seems his calculations were actually accurate but he will has to do more test in the future to understand the skill, the question ¡®what is danger¡¯ just another puzzled to resolve.


    In the other hand Arlom has being observing Cyan reactions and actions all this time, and he was secretly glad that this stupid kid could actually reach to the right conclusions, it took him even less time than Arlom had calculated, ¡®maybe this kid was not so stupid after all¡¯ Arlom though, Cyan has made the most coherent plan he could think of and lunched into action believing he could pierce throughout this wall with the spear.


    Of course there were other ways to do it, making traps around the boar, luring it into an specify location and attacking with all sort of weapons or maybe even using poison in a long battle, asking Arlom for advices or tricks, but all those things relied in the fact that ¡®they consume a lot of time¡¯ and they have their own set of disadvantages.


    Cyan counted all those factors in and limited himself to, the time it took, the spear Arlom had given him and his own strength plus speed, and because of that he took the most direct approach you could think of, the one that would require the less time of all, maybe a little more dangerous than the other methods but the gains would be in magnitude of time, and time was a very precious resource, every second counted.


    Arlom was thinking to lunch Cyan into action himself if he did not moved to do ¡®something¡¯, but all of his worries were for naught in the end, ¡®to think he would do such direct approach in the end, ha!¡¯, Arlom could let out a dried laugh to himself, maybe everything was not that hopeless.


    Shooting like a bullet Cyan tried to aim the spear to the best vital point, the heart, even if he didn¡¯t knew anything about the body anatomy of the boar, he knew this was his best to aim his spear if he wanted to kill it with one hit while the boar was still distracted and unaware of his presence.


    His only thought was, the faster they finish here the sooner they would move to other things, like the promised new ¡®training¡¯ and to do that, there was only one way to do it and three places to throw the spear at, to accomplish that goal, he had to strike one of those places, the head, the neck or the heart.


    The head where the brain was an obvious target, but it was also surrounded by the skull and Cyan did not feel any confident into breaking the skull of a boar boss of an unknown level or defenses.


    Then no problem just aim to the eyes right? Cyan could only laugh to thought, aiming to the head was already hard enough to the amateur spear throwing Cyan, aiming to the eyes would be just impossible as his first try ever.


    Then the neck? The second target was even harder, because, ¡®has you seen an actual boar neck? It was almost nonexistent, even if the boar grew in side his neck actually grew shorter, Cyan could only discard those two targets very easily.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    So the best target was the body, and inside the body the most critical point should be the heart, settings this target in mind, Cyan aimed his spear to where he believed was this critical point.


    Even if it was only 20 meters away, for Cyan this distance took an eternity, at this point in time Cyan forgot about everything else, he felt he was running yet he felt he was not moving nor he thinking about running or gaining speed he was just focusing in one place.


    Afraid of the horned boar? Killing the boar is wrong? Nothing of that matters, Arlom has given him a spear and pointed out a target, then his job was simply, he will hit it as hard and as fast as he could, if he wanted to be of any help to Arlom in the future not doubt can be there in his mid, as this was his chance to proof his worth, this was his first big step, he can¡¯t miss.


    Cyan was relying heavily in Arlom, what are his limits? How much could he do? Can he really kill this boar? Without knowing nothing Cyan could only shut his mind and believe he could do it, and with Arlom at his back there was nothing to be afraid of.


    Soon the boar he entered the range Cyan felt more comfortable activing the skill and throwing the spear.


    Even if this was a boss, there was still hope, as it was still not aware of Cyan presence, the camouflaged Arlom has put on him made him almost invisible, and after putting his mana armor, and Cyan speed was vastly superior to the reaction speed of a boar that was looking in the other way.


    Cyan purred all the mana he could gather inside him over the spear to activate the skill, [Spear Throw], such a silly name and unimaginative name for an skill, nevertheless, the spear started to vibrated and to spin in his hands very fast, the heat generate because of the friction was huge, but thanks to his mana armor he could handle the fast rotation of the spear as well as the heat, and without thinking it twice Cyan felt it was time as he threw the spear as hard and as fast as he could, to his intended target, at the heart of the boar boss.


    As soon as the spear leaves his right hand, the spear shot into the air like a bullet shot from a cannon, with an a speed that was impossible for Cyan to catch with own his eyes, the effects of the skill were not a joke, and its power was vastly superior to own Cyan expectations.


    Nevertheless this power didn¡¯t come without a price to pay, as the recoil for activating the skill was also felt, Cyan expectations for the skill fell as he felt his arm breaking in different places, and the mana armor that was surrounding his right arm, cracked and break into pieces that dissipated into a blue mist, Cyan was feeling like if someone was trying to tear his arm apart while he was throwing the spear, if he did not let go of the spear fast enough he was sure his arm would be flying in the air together with this spear, because of the heat and the suction of the air, his hand was almost glued to the spear.


    He would had fainted from the pain and the shook he felt, if not for his previous training with the pain poison, even if the pain was huge as well as unexpected, this pain was nothing for him now compared to back then, but it did hurt quite badly, almost having your arm ripe off from the base was never painless experience.


    Nevertheless this skill was even more crazier than he thought, because he was using his mana armor to hold the rotating spearas soon he tried to throw it, the spear lunched forward, almost taking his own arm with it, in the end Cyan could only crouch into the ground holding his right hand while looking speechless to the results of his crazy plan that almost costed him his right arm.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    A little back in time.


    When the boar took noticed of Cyan presence, it was already too late to move out of the way, Cyan was already preparing to throw something at it, nevertheless the boar did not panicked to the unexpected attack this was not the first time nor it would be the last either.


    He did what he always would do, something that has never failed him until now, and it was what Cyan was expecting the boar to do, the boar trusted in his thick hide as his best layer of defense to block any attack, his hide could resist any kind of magical or physical attack to a certain point, and without moving an inch, the boar took the best position for tanking the attack, the key to this were his four legs ready to dissipated the strength of any attack and transferred into the ground.


    His skin that was as though as steal, no weapon can put a scratch on it, and his fourth legs muscles thick as trees and could dissipate any attack, but as soon he saw the small creature in front of him throwing something at him, the boar felt a huge amount of danger coming for it, not from Cyan but the spear he was throwing, that spear was nothing to trifled at, nevertheless it was already too late to move out of the way, the spear that Cyan threw, shot with an amazing speed and it went right through the boar body without any resistance what so ever, like if the boar defenses amount for nothing or were not even there in the first place.


    Of course this was because that spear, was well-crafted weapon, forged by a Master Blacksmith and it was made with the intention that it could go throughout the scales of a dragon without losing his edged, the thick hide of a boar did not represent any problem for it, and what it is more, after being split it has become two halves sun and moon, even if the spear had become individually weaker, every time someone threw one of them, it would start searching for their other half, while moving with an uncontrollably speed for almost anyone to handle, transforming them into great weapons, maybe even more powerful when they are used together compare to when they were just a single weapon.


    But for you to able to use them, you need first, to be able to supply them with a great amount of mana, second, you need to be able to handle the spear without losing a limb, something that not a lot of people could accomplish, and third, you need both of them, if you only have one, then after throwing it once you would lost that spear maybe forever.


    Needlessly to said, this the spear, moon, was a very powerful weapon, and for Cyan to be able to throw it without losing a limp was already a great achievement on his own, to able to handle that powerful recoil of the skill and being fast enough for letting go of the spear at the right time not everybody could do it, even less, in their first try, nevertheless it would be a long time before Cyan could pull out all the strength of the silly named skill, well, that¡¯s is of course, if Cyan could found that spear ever again.


    Cyan watched as the spear went lost into the forest, going right through tree after tree, and the boar screamed in pain as it fell into ground not moving at all, a huge amounts of blood was oozing out of the hole the size of a fist in boar body, the boar had fainted from the pain and the shock of having his prided defense utterly defeated and the hole that was made in his body.


    The resulting sight of the power of the spear moon and its only useable skill was quite the sight, but the resulting recoil of that skill was to powerful, it was something you would use as last resort in a battle because you would be weaponless after that, but Cyan used it as his first attack, he could only laugh to his own ingenuity, this was truly another whole world where his previous common sense meant nothing at all.


    The spear went right throughout the boar body without a hitch and shot deep into the forest, finding moon now would be impossible in Cyan mind, but for some reason he has quite the dread feeling now, the danger he felt before has still not disappeared, not allowing him to drop his guard, it the boar not dead? Are there any other dangers? Why was he still feeling danger, and it was coming right in front of him? From the dead body of the boar.


    Just as Cyan was putting a confuse expressing and was thinking what exactly is going on, the body of the horned boar twitched as the hole that was still oozing with red blood stopped pumping blood and closed with amazing speed, visible to Cyan the eyes, soon the boar opened his eyes again, and this time, they were completely red instead of the black color they had before.


    That powerful attack has not killed the boar in a single hit, and it has missed the heart by a long shot, and what is worse, it did not leave any lasting effects on the boar either, well, you may say that being unconscious for a solid 30 seconds was quite a good opportunity for some people but not to weaponless Cyan.


    Cyan did not accounted for huge vitality and the amazing the regeneration capabilities a boss should have apart from his other characteristics, it was not just any boar but the king of the horned boars a boss, it was something that you could not kill by just ¡®wounding it at lot¡¯, you killed or you don¡¯t, as simple as that.


    Even if the attack did not kill the boar at least Cyan though that at least it should leave some lasting effects, what is this? Is this a joke? Has his attack counted for nothing? It had not even leave a lasting wound on the boar?


    Now the spear Moon was long gone, and even if he knew the boar was not dead, how could he use the 30 seconds windows when he did not had any other weapon that was capable of finishing the boar in that time frame, no, Cyan stopped his train of thought. This were just excuses Cyan was saying to himself, he has failed in his plan and he has now to deal with the consequences, his sense of danger has never stopped warning even once, he should had known better, this mean he is doomed now?


    The boar turned around to look for Cyan, with a huge roar started to activated his own skills


    [Iron skin] [Steel skin] [Steel wall] [Giant strength] [Enhanced regeneration] [Enhanced vitality] [Enhanced stamina] and finally [Berserker]


    His already red eyes had become even redder now.

 Chapter 24: One hitting a Tank, again

    Chapter 24: One hitting a Tank, again


    Not far away from Cyan, Arlom could only let out a sigh of disappointment, Cyan has wasted such a perfect chance to kill the boar with only one hit, if only he would had actually aimed to the right place and not such stupid place like the stomach, you cannot kill a boar that can recover from his wounds faster than you can breathe by attacking his stomach, Arlom could only shook his head, ¡®that stupid kid did again¡¯ Arlom thought.


    Now Cyan needs to deal with a very angered boar without a weapon capable of doing any actual damage to the boar, all the weapon he has given to Cyan before were actually just toys in front of this boar now, that spear was the only thing in Cyan possessions that could actually kill it, well apart from the other ¡®last last¡¯ resource that he has given to Cyan, but that was the ¡®last last¡¯ resource that Cyan could only use when Arlom was either dead or not around.


    Arlom felt even more dread as he remember he was thinking to praise Cyan actions when he get back, now he thought he should praise him, if he was able to come back in one piece now, Arlom let out a sigh as he watched the boar starting to charge at full speed in Cyan direction.


    In the other hand, the boar has not found out about Arlom presence as his only focus was the one that had actually hurt him Cyan, after activing all of his skills it has lost all his rationality, not that he needed any, because after activating all of his skill, nothing can touch it, as it started trashing everything in his path while charging at Cyan at full speed.


    Cyan did not have any other weapon on him that could hurt boar anymore or he would had taken it out by now, all the boar fury will fall upon this daredevil ant that was in front of him.


    Cyan turned his head around to look for Arlom advice, he was now defenseless and without a weapon or a plan in front of a huge monster, because he wanted to impress his Master he had rushed out without thinking what to do in case his ¡®sure to win plan¡¯ failed.


    Arlom could only shook his head to the actions this stupid kid was doing and with a wave of his hand he took another spear from his inventory and throw it into Cyan direction while giving some advices to him.


    [Arlom]: ¡°Never take your eyes from your enemy stupid kid, and try to not die or I will kill you next¡±


    Cyan managed to catch the golden spear with his left hand while listening to his Master ¡®advices¡¯, turning his head around he could see the horned boar was speedily charging at him with a speed a tank should not possess, destroying all the trees he was using to shield himself from the boar charged, nevertheless those tree did not meant anything to the [Berserk] boar.


    After dodging the charge of the horned boar one more time, Cyan took the words from his Master to the heart, as he started to think in another plan.


    The boar that was already enraged to the point his eyes have become red dots, it has lost all of his rationality after activing his own skill, [Berserker] even if Cyan had a weapon of him now, he could not find the time to used, and just having a weapon it was not something that would stopped the boar charge on his own


    The boar was charging at him again and again, not giving him any time to think or even time to even check the specs of the golden spear that Arlom had given him.


    Nevertheless Cyan did not need to stop and check for the specs of this spear, this spear was a lot heavier than moon, but after holding the spear for a while dodging the boar, the spear felt somewhat familiar to him like when he was holding onto moon,


    Cyan could already guessed what this spear name was, this was sun, the other half of moon, but to think Arlom had both halves of the spear, if the skill description of the spear moon was accurate, then Cyan could only grit his teeth, as he remember the warning label.


    His worries only multiplied by two as he keep dodging the wild charges of the boar, and even if he was a lot faster than the boar, dodging the never ending charges were depleting Cyan stamina at a very fast pace, Cyan had still not learned how to move without wasting any movement and the more he moved the tired he felt, and the slower he would move, forcing him to make even more movements, creating a vicious cycle of stamina depletion, that surely he will end after he could not dodged the boar anymore.


    What is worse, the pain on his right arm was just increasing, his fracture right arm was coming back to haunt him, he just realized how much he used his right arm to make a right turn as the situation was not improving at all, but soon enough, what Cyan was hopping for, a fast moving blue dot appeared in Cyan mind, Cyan could only put out big smile as he said.


    [Cyan]: ¡°here it comes¡±


    The horned boar charged at him one more time, but this time, Cyan did not moved out of the way, he stayed in place waiting for the right time to act, Cyan could only feel dread as sense of danger shoot sky high as he saw the giant boar charging at him, but just as the boar was right in front of him, on the last second Cyan moved his head just a few centimeters to the left as he felt an air current passing next to his ear.


    While holding sun, he could clearly see the position and the direction moon was coming from, but it was actually too fast for him to catch it, not that he could do it anyway, with one broken arm and with the other holding onto sun, the best outcome was to let the boar catch the spear for him.


    The rotating spear moon, nailed the boar to the ground stopping his charged on the spot, in other circumstances, the boar should had being split into two halves and die on the spot because of the speedy charged, but because all the skills the boar has put on itself it was tough nut to crack.


    Cyan could only let out a sigh of relief, as the boar was stopped just a meter away from the place he was standing, nevertheless this will not last for long, a new windows of opportunity has being created, this was not the last time he was weaponless but now, where he should strike?


    The boar has only received a minor wound if none at all from that first strike that Cyan has made, that means if he wants to kill it, striking the heart was the obvious choice but what if he can¡¯t find it this time around too.


    Seeing his disciple still in troubles after he managed to stop the boar charged Arlom could only try to give some more advices to this stupid kid


    [Arlom]: "Cyan it was a good plan to aim for his vitals like the heart but if you don''t know where the heart is or can¡¯t even do a followed attack, then it is a stupid plan that will only put you in risk, then, the next best place to aim sun is obviously for the head were the brain is, if you are worry that you lack the strength, then you only need to gain some ¡®weight¡¯ to make it for it, I am sure you are aware now that, that spear can split that skull in half without any problem if you put enough strength behind it"


    Cyan that was worrying if he should try another thing, but could only nod to his Master words and thank him for his support.


    [Cyan]: "I understand Master, and thank you"


    ¡®that is right, there is nothing to be afraid of¡¯ Cyan was not fool, of course he has thought the head was also a good target to aim, but it was smaller than the rest of the body, and studier beyond believe, he was not sure he could do real damage to that skull where the horns were, but this was Cyan first mistake, he underestimated his own strength and the spear his Master has gave him.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Nevertheless his Master has gave him a key word, ¡®weight¡¯, sun was a lot more heavier than moon, it was now that Cyan remember he could inspect the stats for the spear.


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    Soon ¨C Twin Golden Spear (unique)


    Lv.: -- (??)


    Description: After running away from the first human kingdom with his family, the Master blacksmith took refuge in the land of the Orcs where he teach them how the human art of making weapon, in exchanged of protection for him, his family and the promised no evil soul would ever put their hands in sun or moon. The orcs honored their promised for centuries to come until the great war of the continent were the 9<sup>th</sup> Human king requested the spear to from the Orcs to free his race from oppression, the Orcs agreed with the conditions that the spear would be returned after war. The human won the great war, and took over the continent, nevertheless the spear was never returned to the Orcs that still are waiting for it.


    Attack: 1/500


    Durability: 256/500


    Defense: 254/500


    [Stats]


    -5/50 Strength


    -5/50 Agility


    +5/50 Wisdom


    +5/50 Intelligence


    Skills:


    [Skill Slot (empty)]: None.


    [Skill Slot (empty)]: None.


    [Heavy Throw (active)]: (In combination with the user). After being imbue with enough mana, the spear will start to gain weight of the user multiply by the amount of mana used, if throw at the right moment it would gain a huge penetration force.


    [Twin Heavy Throw (active) (combination)]: Even if the sun and the moon can¡¯t be together, After being split into two halves, they still refuse to be separate from each other for too long, like the sun chasing the moon, after throwing one or the other, if you are still holding onto sun or moon, the other halve will come back. (You better be on the lookout for that kid).


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    Cyan could only laugh to himself, the attack number was just 1? If Arlom had given him this spear first he could surely thing of it as garbage, even a wooden stick should had that attack power, but Cyan could not laugh to this spear, his sister spear moon was an amazing weapon, sun would not lag far behind, if seams this spear was made for defense, and it acted more like a hammer than a nail.


    Nevertheless Cyan could feel the weight of the history that was engraved into the spear description, this history was not weightless, it has a meaning, it talked about the beginning of the spear and his final destination, Cyan finally started to understand what ¡®weight¡¯ actually was.


    Looking over the boar that was still struggling to free himself from moon, Cyan make out his mind, the weight for taking the boar was not light, as he felt his body growing heavy, nevertheless if wanted to become stronger and eat, there were only a few ways to do it.


    After dodging the charges of the wild boar he was very tired but now it was the time to ended, to gain ¡®weight¡¯ Cyan choose to go above it, this spear worked better the more it weigh it has, then using the weight of gravity give you was a no brainer.


    Going up in a tree, Cyan disappeared from the ground, letting a still angered boar struggling to free himself. Cyan manage to get above the boar and pointed his spear downward, he focusses the rest of his mana in him to the spear that was increasingly gaining weight the more mana he put until he could barely hold onto the spear with his left arm and using the support of his mana armor that has almost faded away into blue mist.


    Without waiting for a signal Cyan jumped down to ground where the boar was.


    While Cyan was claiming the tree, the boar had managed to finally free himself from the spear shackles and was looking for his target, all of his skill were still active and the wound made by the silver spear was already gone.


    So when the boar saw Cyan coming from high up the boar prepared to received him with his horn, it was even more enraged, to be challenging him in head on collision where his best weapon and defenses are, this ant was eager to be squashed.


    Meanwhile Cyan gained a huge amount of speed while he falling to the ground and what it should be only an instant, lasted a lot longer for Cyan, while he was falling everything stopped moving, from the falling leafs, to the movements of the boar, in his fall, everything has become lifeless gray as he entered a world were only he could move, this was it, the slowed time world, he has focused his mid to the brink and finally managed to enter it again.


    There in the middle of the boar head, where the horn was, a red dot was shining, in this grayed world that red dot was even more surreal, but Cyan knew this is where he needs to aim the spear head,


    The skull was very sturdy and no weak impacts will have any effect on it, in normal circumstances you should be using a harmer to hit the boar and stunned it while you accumulate enough wounds on him so he could go down, but Cyan was one-person team, and his endurance and stamina was way weaker than the boar, in a battle of wear and tear, he will surely be the losing end.


    Cyan only choice was to strike the vitals of the board with a fast and swift movement, that''s exactly why Arlom has given him a spear and not a hammer or a sword.


    Arlom has gave him the perfect weapon for the occasion.


    Finally, the spear of Cyan collided with the horn of the boar, splitting it in half and the spear it went like it you would had expect, right through it, the sturdy skull even if put out a lot of resistance in the end it could not block the weight and the force that Cyan spear had, it shattered into pieces allowing the spear to past right through it, instantly ending the life of the horned boar.


    The spear of Cyan went half way into the ground creating a small crater, and Cyan himself rolled into the ground with now his two arms broken, and another set of broken bones.


    Looking over the unmoving boar and not reacting coming out from his skill [Hunter instincts] Cyan could finally let out a sigh of relief.


    Taking the spears from the ground will surely take more time than the whole duration of this battle Cyan thought as he laid on the ground.


    This battle has actually not last even for 10 minutes but Cyan was feeling it has being hours, it was an intense fight for him, Cyan was regretting that he had missed that first attack and now he will had to pull out those spears of the ground when he doesn¡¯t have any more energy to even move around, maybe attacking from above was not the best choice now that he thought about the consequences.


    But no matter, Cyan only needs to ask Arlom for his help, surely Arlom would be able to do it with just one pull, after all Arlom was very stronger, way stronger than Cyan could even imagined and he was right there.


    With his shaking left hand, Cyan managed to drink one minor health potion that he carried with him in one of his quick slots, thank god the inventory bag can be activated by moving around a little bit of mana, even if his left arm was broken, it was not as bad as when his right arm broke, he was more aware this time of the recoil the skill had that last time, and by putting most of the rest of his mana armor to protect his left arm where the most damaged of the skill would be felt, Cyan managed to mitigate the damaged, but he still ended with a broken arm nonetheless.


    But he could still use it to drink the potion, lessening the pain he was feeling, lucking enough he has not lose any limbs, and because potions that grew limbs were so expensive Arlom had not given him any of those, only minor health and mana potions, Cyan could let a sigh of relief as he felt the potion taken effect on his broken limps allowing him to stand again.


    After standing up and turning around Cyan could not see where his Master was now, he was just standing right there just a second ago.


    ''Where he went?'' Cyan thought


    Arlom has disappeared and not even his shadow remained, Cyan thought he should look for him, while calling his name but he still remember that time when he did just that and has made Arlom to start to call him stupid kid even since, so he stopped himself to do something stupid again, he has already done so, when he didn¡¯t aimed to the boar head since the beginning, missing the one hit kill.


    But all of Cyan worries of where his Master was were for naught as he was hearing a bush sound behind him, Cyan turned around and called his dear Master.


    [Cyan]: "Master! I did it, I finally did it!" With a conceited smile Cyan was looking to the bushes where the sound has come from.


    But in the end what it has come out from the bushes was not his Master, but?three small creatures of 1 meter of height each and green skin, that have come to take a look because all the noises, but they had just stumble onto this place, just a sound ago there was nothing in front of them, just more trees, but after crossing some bushes now a human kid and a huge dead boar body was in front of them.


    Cyan instantly recognized those creatures, they were goblins, pointy ears, small height and thin bodies with green skin and shard eyes.


    Theses goblins looked between the huge dead boar body and the tired and bloody Cyan that didn¡¯t had any weapon on him and it was alone and defenseless, they could put one and one together, they looked each other as they nodded, followed by the sound of someone taking out their swords and knifes as their eyes glinted with killing intent and a big smile, today was their lucky day.

 Chapter 25: Goblins

    Chapter 25: Goblins


    While Cyan was thinking what he should be doing now something interrupted his view as a blue window appeared in front of him.


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    Lv.?? Goblin Hunter (Kergan)


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    [HP]: ---/---


    [MP]: --/--


    [SP]: --/--


    A Goblin which specialty is tracking down a target or detecting hidden traps, they are very agile and their senses are better than the rest, they use knifes and bows, or anything that can be thrown.


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    Skills:


    [Trace (active)]: After marking a target you can spot its tracks more easily.


    [Cooperation (passive)]: You know how to cooperate better with people that has the same skill.


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    Lv.?? Goblin Soldier (Kertan)


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    [HP]: ---/---


    [MP]: --/--


    [SP]: --/--


    A Goblin which specialty is fighting, they are stronger than the rest but move slower, nevertheless they know how to take a punch, they use a short sword and a small shield.


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    Skills:


    [Cutting swing (active)]: A very fast swing made with a sword.


    [Cooperation (passive)]: You know how to cooperate better with people that has the same skill.


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    Lv.?? Goblin Lookout (Keltan)


    </td>


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    <td width="576">


    [HP]: ---/---


    [MP]: --/--


    [SP]: --/--


    Not all Goblins fight in the front, some of them stay in the rear where they stay as a lookout for hidden dangers or ambushes, they mostly use crossbows and spears.


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    Skills:


    [Enhanced hearing (active)]: Improves your hearing when.


    [Enhanced eyes (active)]: Improves your vision over long distances.


    [Night vision (active)]: A rare skill that allows you to see in the dark.


    [Cooperation (passive)]: You know how to cooperate better with people that has the same skill.


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    Cyan could felt his sense of danger instantly activating and warning him that he was obviously in danger, of course, he doesn''t need to be a genius to know what the action of pulling out a  weapon means, they were enemy¡¯s, or soon to become one.


    Looking over the blue window¡¯s Cyan notice now he could see a lot more information than when he was fighting against the horned boar, nevertheless he could not help to ask himself what has change since then.


    Was the boar too high level for him to see anything? or it was because he level up after killing the boar? In Cyan mind he could only once again curse this broken System, he could not even see the level of a goblin, and what¡¯s more, when you level up shouldn¡¯t your HP, MP and SP be replenish?


    After he killed the boar he felt nothing different, nothing had change inside him, no, wait he did felt something different alright, he felt huge amounts of pain in his entire body, like his broken arms, he felt so tired that staying awake was only due the adrenaline in his body was still there, forcing him to stay awake as he felt his heart pumping it to all of his body, and above all, he felt dizziness because his lack of mana, this was something he had experience before when he used his armor for the first time, so he was sure this was the reason.


    Now he has to deal with more problems in his current state? Cyan could only curse his luck, to land in such disadvantage position, nevertheless Cyan knew that, luck has nothing to do with it, not thinking of the consequences of his own actions and his inexperience has led to this.


    ¡®I had never tested this System before, but to have levels and not being useful at all when I need it the most, what it is the point of having levels then, sigh¡¯ Cyan could only sighed to the lack of utility that this blue windows has, nevertheless, they were not pointless. Blaming the System for not giving him more support and relying completely on it was something stupid to do any way.


    Nevertheless, these blue windows help Cyan enough to not be completely ignorant about the goblins, and their skills, those goblins have professions as well as names, together with their looks it was obvious to him that they were not mindless monsters.


    This was totally different from what you would expect from the pictured goblins Cyan has in his mind, mindless creatures, savages that will attack you on sight, even if the goblins eyes were filled with killing intend and Cyan was to all intents and purposes a disable kid right now for all of them to see, they did not rushed to finish him off, no, they still were weary of the surroundings, checking for any trap, while their lookup check for more ¡°company¡±, in other words checking if Cyan was all alone.


    This was the biggest piece of information the blue windows had gave Cyan, these goblins coordination was so good that it has even become a skill, Cyan put no doubt in the power of a skill has, an a skill was something too powerful to take it lightly, his two broken arms were testimony of the power of a ¡®simple¡¯ stupidly named skill, even after drinking a lower health potion most of his bleedings had stopped, but his right arm was still broken in multiple places, almost twisted in a weird angle, rendering it useless for the next ten minutes or so, until the potion could heal it, and even his left arm was being healed faster than his right arm and it was capable of holding a weapon now, at most Cyan could only use to put a defense as he was right handed.


    Now Cyan was standing in a crucial situation were having his dominant arm broken, will play a huge role in the end, and the skills the goblins had was something he should be very weary of, maybe he was overestimating the power of all the skills, but with no other information what so ever about the power a skill holds, he could only fear them, this is why the blue windows hold such importance to him right now, it was shining a light to Cyan own ignorance, now he was very thankful to have at least those descriptions.


    He could only feel fear, as he remember how the boar activated a bunch of skills that he did not knew nothing about, that make the boar behaved like a huge moving fortress, even with his speed, Cyan was powerless against the boar in the end, if not for the twin spear his master has gave him, the end result would be very different.


    Cyan could only tremble as he thought the possibility to fight something like that again in the blind and without a weapon that could hurt it, the monster king smiling face flashed in front of him before disappearing again leaving shaken Cyan. Without knowing what amazing skills were out there, his reckless act of attacking that horned boar look amazingly stupid now.


    Nevertheless, in Cyan eyes was reflected the will to life, ¡®what if the goblins know how to fight, in groups and they can coordinate well and also¡­¡¯ Cyan thought, as he felt the minor health potion curing his wounds, slowly but surely, his broken body was being put back in place, he only needs more time, ¡®giving up now is the same as wasting all the effort and hopes my Master has put on me¡¯ Cyan has never forgotten what his mission was.


    In the other hand, for the goblins, even if this human kid has killed that huge horned boar that the three of them could never kill without hundred of goblins and a lot of sacrifices, they were fast to past judgment that this human kid, that was oozing with blood, that looked very tired and weak after a drawn-out battle, shouldn¡¯t be in any position to fight back, this was their golden chance.


    The obvious choice was to seize the boar body from the human kid now and take it for themselves, no, not just for themselves but for their entire tribe, after all, the food in this forest it was something you always had to fight for.


    If they had knew from the beginning that this human kid was behind those bushes they could had put a better plan, rather than just walking right in front of it, but what it is done is done, there is no need to regret the past, they only need to look at the bright future, the tasty tasty future, were they would be able to finally eat meat after a long time.


    Cyan looked around him for a weapon it obvious that the spear that was in the head of the board could not be pull out and be of any use now, not the mention the silver spear that has flied to who knows where after the violent struggles of the horned boar.


    Nevertheless Cyan was not weaponless, to the boar, any other weapon other than those two spears would had being truly ineffective, but for the goblins the history changes, before he could put out another weapon from his inventory bag, the goblin soldier that is seems to be the leader of the group started to talk to him in an unknown language, nevertheless Cyan still understood it.


    [Kertan (Goblin Soldier)]: ¡°Kid if you want to keep your life, leave the boar body here and leave or else, we will fight you for it¡±


    Cyan arranged his body in a defensive position.


    Being against three Cyan was in obvious disadvantage, and the goblins had slowly surrounded him, one in the front, one to the back, and the other to the side that was looking over the surroundings, this encirclement has cut all Cyan escape routes as the boar body was to the other side.


    It was not long before he realized what the third goblin was doing, he was the lookout... those goblins were not stupid at all, even if Cyan was alone, they never let their guard down, even if they gave him the chance to walk away, they still prepared themselves to fight him over the boar body in case Cyan refused to leave.


    Even if Cyan looked very tire, they did not rushed, in the end their assumption proof to be right, after that seamlessly defenseless human kid took out with his left hand, a short sword that was being hidden in his clothes, even defenseless at first sight, it could still be dangerous for them to blindly charge, and above all, maybe they can even avoid all confrontation, smart goblins get to live longer and always get more food at the end of the day after all.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    From the goblin soldier point of view, that sword has almost appeared from thin air, nevertheless this was not important matter right now, as the goblins did not panic after Cyan took out the sword with his left hand, they took this as the answer of the human.


    If they human kid wants to fight, then there still can be more hidden traps around, Kertan gave a signal to Keltan and Kergan, ¡®look out for hidden traps, if the human tries to flee let it, and¡­ don¡¯t die¡¯.


    The other two goblins nodded, as they started to do their task, without engaging in a fight.


    In the other hand, Cyan has started to understand how things worked around here, even goblins were not savaged creatures, and food was indeed so sparse that even the weakest of races would fight you to death for it.


    Nevertheless even if he was in a huge disadvantageous position right now, how can Cyan give up the food he has fought so hard to get?, he almost lost his right hand and his life for it, on top of that, how can he be sure that the goblins will keep their word and let him leave.


    Cyan could only grit his teeth as he make out his mind to keep fighting for what was his, if he stepped back now, then everything time he is in disadvantage would he just flee? What about the next time? And then then next time after that?


    Nevertheless, the caution of the goblins has come out with a price, it has gave Cyan the time he needed for the health potion to take most of its effect, nevertheless his right arm was still broken, Cyan was doubting that it would be healed if he did not took another potion now, but he was not in any position for taking out another potion, let alone having the time to drinking it.


    To the goblins the fight has already started, Cyan act of taking out a weapon was all they need it as Keltan the lookup, started to give out signals to the other two that, there was no one around and the human kid was all alone, then, kergan the hunter, started also to give out signals that there were not any hidden traps around.


    Kertan the soldier, gave them the signal, he would start attacking, then Kergan needs to do a follow up attack with his bow, while Keltan will keep watching over the surroundings and intervened in the fight if needed.


    The three goblins nodded, a plan was form, and everyone knew what to do.


    Cyan has watched over the goblins signaling each other, but he could not do something about it nor he could understand what they were saying now, it seems his all [understand] skill don¡¯t work with signals.


    his position did not allow him to take the offensive, nor did he was very clear idea in what he should be doing right now, as he was thinking what to do, Kertan charged right in from the front, at the same moment Kergan in the back was getting ready to attack with his bow and arrow, the goblin soldier attack in the front was just a part of a distraction.


    Cyan was looking at the goblin soldier charging at him from the front, when he felt a sense of danger coming from his back, as he moved to dodge, an arrow that was coming right to his heart was avoided, unlike Cyan, Kergan knew very well where the human heart was located, and his aim was very accurate.


    Cold sweep dripped down from Cyan forehead, that arrow that was aimed to his hearth, and if not for his passive skill that was warning him about every possible danger he could never had avoid it, Cyan started to understand the difficulty of his situation.


    Right now, Cyan did not have any mana on him, so using his mana armor was out of the question, he only managed to drink one minor health potion, and his right arm was still broken as he was holding the sword with his left hand that was not his dominant one.


    He has managed to take out the sword without alerting the goblins he has an inventory bag with him, this was also something he could not expose so easily, he could not just take out a mana potion if the possibility of this goblins escaping with the information existed.


    A dread feeling as cover all Cyan body as he felt his body becoming more heavier, while he keep parring the sword slash of the goblin soldier, and from time to time an arrow would fly by, disrupting his rhythm every time not allowing him to press the soldier goblins not recover his breath.


    Even if his wounds were being healed by the health potion slowly, this did not recovered his depleted stamina that was at the near bottom after his fight against the boar, just as he was thinking how to overcome this situation¡­


    Cyan parry another sword slash from the goblin soldier, as he felt his sense of danger warning him about the incoming arrow, but Cyan could not dodged it in time, he could only scream in pain as an arrow dig into his right leg, as he make it his way to the front of the of the body of the boar.


    [Cyan]: ¡°dammit¡±


    Cyan could only curse his luck, it was the only thing Cyan could said, to think he would be killed by goblins after he fought a boss.


    Recovering somewhat from his wounds before the goblins had shown up was one thing, but if he only just had took out a mana potion back then too, when he had the chance, nothing of this would be happening.


    Even if Cyan did not had any experience fighting over a group that was this well organized, with his mana armor he would immune to arrows, not that he needed to take any arrow anyway, because he would too fast for a simple arrow to hit him, Cyan realized how op that mana armor was, and how op the speed it gave him it was, and how stupid he was for not saving some of his mana.


    Now those goblins were closing in on him, there was no other choice, he has to take a mana potion exposing his inventory bag at the same time, he was sure that after taking his sword out he had generate some doubts in the goblins, they were not that stupid after all.


    If he took another item out, his inventory bag would be exposed too, the clothes Cyan was wearing did not help him to hide the existence of the inventory bag another huge mistake, who knew what would happen if word got out. He has to wipe out this three goblins so the secret die with them but this was not something easy to do even with his mana armor.


    After all the sword the goblin soldier was using was not broken piece of rusted iron, no, it was a well-oiled sword that has being well maintained by an knowledge person, the goblin hunter has a well-crafted bow that was very accurate over short distances and clothes of the three goblins were made of leather that even if a little crude it was made to fit their small sized body, it was protecting their body and it was light enough so their thin bodies could carry it around and move without a problem for long times.


    Even in this forest the weakest of creatures was a well prepared race that was ready for combat, and were not mindless minions that would rush to their death, if the goblins flee there would traps waiting for him around the corner.


    But this was all self-delusions, after Cyan took the mana potion will he be allowed to drink it? If he drink it will the goblin keep fighting him or would they flee in that same instant? Would they gave him the time? Cyan thought he could turn around the situation but the more he parry that goblin sword and the more his sense of danger warned him about the incoming arrow he realized he was very mistaken.


    Cyan future was getting darker and darker, but how can he give up now.


    Even if Cyan has never fight for his life ever, his instincts were acting up, his will to survival mixed with the adrenaline that was still filling his body after the fight again the board, as Cyan started to look a weak spot for the goblin formation.


    After parrying another slash of the goblin soldier with great difficulty because of his injure leg , Cyan felt his body growing tired, he had been running behind Arlom for hours to reach here and then he has use all his strength against the fight the horned wild boar, his stamina was almost run out as his legs were giving up in him right now.


    He needs to take them out fast but it doesn''t look that he could do that, they were well prepared, and were fighting with a calm face, tiring Cyan so he could not put any resistance in the end.


    Cyan could only let out a sigh, these goblins were smarter than he thought they would be, he was underestimating this forest, and even the weakest of the races could kill him.


    Nevertheless, Cyan has found out a mistake in their formation, their lookout, it needs to be aware of their surrounding more than the battle itself and Cyan could use that to break their formation.


    After dragging his body in front of the boar, Cyan touched the spear that was half burry in the head of the boar.


    ¡°So that¡¯s is where you are¡±


    A devil smile appeared in Cyan face, as the goblins felt the pressure coming from the human kid now, they too can feel danger.


    The goblin soldier gave up a signal to the other two. ¡°no good, retreat¡±.


    But it was too late, a golden spear as fly out from the trees and landed in front of the human, that spear gave a huge oppression aura, before that spear in the boar was normal, just a lump of silver metal, but when the human touch it, it change, the goblin could only feel fear as their body froze.


    This effect has also affect the horned boar, but the boar managed to overcome it and fight it back, but for the weak goblins it was like someone was squeezing their hearts, only the solder goblin kertan was able to move a little.


    Cyan did knew the silver spear has such effect in the goblins, he did not felt anything different after all, he only care about was that, after touching the silver spear a thread of mana was passed from the spear to his body, but this was not enough to activated his mana armor, not that he planned to used it any way.


    Before the goblins could recover, Cyan grabbed sun, the golden spear that has come back to him after holding moon, focusing what was left of his mana in his body, Cyan did what he had seen his master do the most, he threw the golden spear with all his remaining strength to the lookout.


    After being imbue in mana the spear was very fast, silent and deathly, the other two goblins let out a shirk to try to alert their lookout but, they were too late, the lookout has taken away his sight of the fight and after that it was froze by the silver spear pressure.


    In that gap of time Cyan has thrown out the golden spear at him, turning around the golden spear penetrate his chest going right through it, nailing him in a nearby tree, if the spear could hurt the tick hide of the horned wild boar, it would be more than enough to kill a goblin.


    The lookout die on the spot with a spear in his chest, as Cyan took this chance that the other two goblin were not paying attention to him as he took out another minor health potion drink it, the arrow was still in his leg but he could not anything about that now, he was thinking to take out a mana potion but before he could do it.


    The two goblin grew bloodshed eyes, one of their kind was killed, it was too fast, they did not it see it coming, once again they were remainder to no lower their guard even against the weakest or smallest of opponents, now one of them was death, revenge, vengeance, to kill the one that had killed one of their own kind.


    The two goblin looked each other and nodded and... they flee, as fast as they could and as far as the could, they have lost their lookout, and the human was putting his life to fight until his last breath against them, and that spear aura was not something they could fight. Even if they try, the human may take down one of them before dying himself with another unknown trick, the choice was no brainer.


    In their tribe each goblin life counts, don¡¯t waste your life¡¯s, goblins are so few in this forest that each time a goblin dies, the whole tribe will mourn it, staying and dyeing was stupid, no they will go and look for reinforcement, then they will come back with a lot of numbers and take the board body and take vengeance on his fallen comrade


    The food was still important, that small human should not be able to take that huge body with him, it was stupid for them to engaged in a fight in the first place, they were blinded, once again they remember, the words of their elder, the wises goblin they ever had ¡°think¡±, it was the most powerful gift for the goblins.


    The two goblins flee in different directions so, if human gave them chance, at least one of them would have more chances to escape and alert their tribe and look for reinforces.


    Cyan was left stunned on the spot, the action of the goblins had let him speech less, should not the goblins be stupid and mindless race, this was... what was that, they run away.


    Nevertheless Cyan drop to the ground, losing all the strength on his body, letting out a sigh, with wave of his hand he took a blue pill for his inventory and a green one, this were the items that Arlom had gave him in case of problems, it seems Arlom was planning for this more than it looks, after taking the potions and drinking it, he felt his strength coming back to him as well as his mana, the pills of Arlom were truly magnificent.


    ''Now what I should do, sigh''


    His master was gone, and now he has to take the body of the board by himself back to the cave, he was glad that he could remember the oath to remember the path back to the cave but, letting out a sigh, put his hand over the arrow as he pull it out, Cyan almost fainted but the health potion closed the wound very fast.


    Cyan stoop up and went next to the body of the boar, then he looked at the dead goblin that was still nailed to a tree, he has watched the other goblins flee and his sense of danger has finally stopped sending him signals.


    Letting another sigh Cyan asked mana for her help once again....

 Chapter 26: Kelan

    Chapter 26: Kelan


    Kelan was the strongest goblin warrior of the tribe, next in line to become the next chief, the only goblin with a power name, the rest of the goblin only have powerless names, or weak professions, and unlike the other goblins that were only one meter tall, Kelan was one and a half meter tall.


    He had grown tall and strong and over all smart after absorbing the teachings of the great elder of this village of goblins, if not for the great elder this village would had not come to exits in the first place, the great elder has gift them wisdom, and it was a treasure that surpassed any other gifts for the goblins.


    With this wisdom the goblins in this village would had persist long time ago and as of now, this was one of the few remaining goblin villages left in the Deathmatch Forest, they can only be grateful of that to the great elder teachings, thanks to him the goblins maybe have a future, nevertheless even with wisdom, life was never easy in this forest, food was scarce, and the goblins weak, nevertheless they have survived until now.


    Hunter gathering was the most difficult job in the goblin tribe, nevertheless, each year Kelan never lacks goblins willing to join one of 15 team of hunters.


    While Kelan was supervising the training of the new goblins hunters, a commotion was occurring in the village entrance, one of the team of three goblins was coming back running and¡­ he was alone, that could only meant that his team has being wipe out and he was the last remaining survivor.


    Things like this were common occurrences in the village, the goblins could only be feel saddening pain in their chest about the death of their hunters, goblins too have a heart after all, but they have to remain strong and never lost their will to live.


    This time a tiny miracle had occurred as they spotted a second goblin running after the first one, now everyone focused their sights on the forest waiting for the final goblin, but¡­ after the time passed by no goblin other has come out from the forest, all the guards could only let out a small sigh, and be happy that this time around that only one goblin was the victim.


    Each life in the goblin village was a precious thing, and every time a goblin die all the village would feel the lost and mourn his dead like they would for his brother, father, or own son, because in this small village with only 200 goblin, practically everyone was related to each other, you could differentiate between a male and female, because the males have a dark green skin, and the females have a light grey skin.


    A gobbling guard rushed to Kelan was to bring him this news as fast as he could.


    After running throughout the entire village, the guard was out of breath as he reached Kelan.


    [Kenan (guard)]: ¡°¡­Kelan¡­. Part of the hunter team 12¡­. cough cough¡­. has come back¡±


    The guard, Kenan, has come rushing and was missing his breath, but still gave the important information to Kelan.


    ¡®That¡¯s the team of¡­¡¯


    Kelan was not a fool, he knew something bad has happen for the guard to come here rushing, and about all, the team 12 was still scheduled to come back in 3 more hours, to come early means something has happen to them.


    That¡¯s right, the goblin divided themselves in 3 goblins per team, the hunted with a predefine route, as they also set an estimates of when they should be coming back, using the sun as a guide for the time, if the team didn¡¯t come back on time, another team that Kelan would lead himself would be dispatched to find the missing team, save them if he can, burry their remains if not, avenging their death was only when possible.


    Kelan could only shook his head, it has being only a single day since the last death, now another one, Kelan could not help to say his usual line, he felt disgusted each time he say it to his own lack of power, but he has to do it, he had to remain strong to every goblin in this village.


    [Kelan]: ¡°How many¡±


    This was the two words he hated the most, but it was the only thing he could say, he can¡¯t dress the true in pink, someone was death, and now he needs to know how may, he needs to rebalance all the teams, go to the family of the goblins that had perish, find their remains burry them, find how they die, all that while he remained strong and compose in the outside.


    Kelan could only feel pain as he cares for each and single life of the goblins inside this village, and for the goblins Kelan was their pillar, towering above all of them, holding all their hopes and dreams of a future. He can¡¯t be broken, he can¡¯t be weak, he needs to do his job as the leader, and he can¡¯t let emotions get on the way.


    The guard Kenan, could only feel ashamed of himself for being so powerless, Kelan would always say the same thing every time, over and over again, always with the same face as a remainder, they understood it, but they could not carry the same load Kelan was carrying with him, they would only crumble to such weight in a single day.


    With a cracking voice almost as crying, Kenan could only reply to this question each time.


    [Kenan]: ¡°two, we spotted 2, before I had come here, they didn¡¯t have any wounds on them¡±


    Kelan nodded and left out a sigh that nobody could hear, ¡®at least it was not completely wipe out¡¯.


    In a completely wipe out, best case scenario, only one goblin comes back half death only to rely a messaged and die, or just to die after being spotted by the guards.


    He hated himself for thinking scenarios like that, nevertheless his face never show any hint of hate, remorse or despair, it was a frozen lacked any emotions, a face that remained the same as always, calm and compose.


    [Kelan]: ¡°I will go to talk to them, go to the elder house and deliver this news, I will be going for the remains with team 14 and 15, we will follow the same route as team 12, expect my return in 2 hours¡¯ time, if I don¡¯t come back, don¡¯t let any team come after us, nod if you understand¡±


    Kenan was kneeling on the ground, he was holding back his tears, this was too much, he was asking to not let anyone go after him, their only pillar, Kenan was sure that if Kelan doesn¡¯t come back, all the goblins in the village will come out searching for him, how can he a simple guard stop the entire village, he could not agree to this, he can¡¯t he was not strong enough, every time Kelan would give the same orders and as time went on agreeing to such orders was becoming increasingly difficult to him.


    Why not let the remaining¡¯s of the death goblin alone, why he had to search for them putting his life own life in risk every time, should he not be happy only with two goblins being alive? Why he has to search for the body too, Kelan is far more important after all, and most of the time Kelan did not find a thing but only blood.


    Nevertheless Kenan could not voice out his thoughts, he too was weak, too weak in fact as he hated himself for thinking like this, when he volunteered to this job he didn¡¯t knew it would be this hard.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Kelan took notice of the indecisive look in the face of Kenan, and could only feel his blood boiling, why goblins have to be this weak, why they can¡¯t be strong, like orcs or tall like the ogres, do the god¡¯s hate them? They did something wrong? Was this a punishment?


    Nevertheless, if Kelan loosed his mind right now and lashed out to this goblin, then all the years of training with the wise elder would be put to waste, the elder has shown them the way, and he can¡¯t break no now, no ever.


    Letting out a sigh to himself, Kelan kneeled in front of the guard, Kelan knew this guard name very well, because he knew the names of all goblins, he had memorized them all.


    [Kelan]: ¡°Kenan, listing to me, I will be back, I promised this in my name, this is just a measure so no more goblins blood is shed today or in the future, your job is to calm down all the goblins that come to the gates, and tell them to wait for me here, I can only count on you to do this task.


    Kenan could only break into a cry, a grown goblin crying like a little kid, truly a sight to be seen, nevertheless nobody of the present goblins was laughing or mocking at him, no, they also wanted to cry but they were holding their tears back, the goblins were so weak and powerless, making look their pillar Kelan even taller, Kelan height maybe was small for the other races, but for the goblins Kelan was as tall as the sky, he was supporting the sky himself.


    Kenan wipe away his tears, Kelan was counting on him, he can¡¯t let him down, the leader of the village was trusting him with a mission and he will carry on with it, no matter what he will stop any goblin that comes to the gates, but first he needs to pass this messaged to the elder goblin.


    Doing a powerful nod, Kenan face instantly change from a weak goblin to a furious one, one that was prepare for everything, and not a trace of that weak goblin was left, Kelan could only nod back at him.


    [Kenan]: ¡°I will carry this mission with my life Kelan, you can trust in me, I will tell the elder the news and you can let me to guard the gates after you leave¡±.


    [Kelan]: ¡°Very well, team 14 and 15 with me, we depart in 30 minutes, prepare everything for a trip of 2 hours, you recruit (Kerta), go to Alkan house, and tell her that¡­ team 12 has come back¡±


    Turning around Kelan started to walk in the direction that the guard has come from, now the only thing remaining is listening to the team 12 history, the team of his sister husband was in.


    .


    .


    .


    Kelan entered the room where the two goblins of team 12 where put.


    When they saw Kelan entering the small house, the immediately kneeled in the floor, to every goblin in here Kelan was practically the village chief, but it was more than that, if they could they would make him a king.


    [Kelan]: ¡°Get up and tell me what happen¡±


    The two goblins looked each other and nodded, it was the one at the right that started talking, nevertheless neither of them get up.


    [Kertan]: ¡°We spotted a very tired human kid after fighting a horned boar, he was alone and had managed to kill the wild boar, because he was hurt and looked very tire, we took the chance to attack him to take over the wild boar body, even we you followed your teachings, we let¡­ Keltan, die, we were winning the fight as we were wearing him down and managed to hurt him but, he used some kind of skill with his silver spear that freeze us in place, and them out of nowhere he threw a golden spear with incredible speed, Keltan could not dodge it¡±


    Kertan went in silence, he could not keep narrating how the life of one of their own kind was lost, so Kergan took on him as he keep narrating for Kelan.


    [Kergan]: ¡°After that the human that was just at death doors suddenly was full of energy, and was willingly to fight us to the death, we followed elder teaching to prevent more deaths and fled, splitting in two directions so at least one of us could come back alive, we also leave behind some traps but the human never followed after us¡±


    [Kertan]: ¡°Kelan it was my mistake, I was the one that said we should attack the human kid, because of me, Kergan, my brother life was lost, I don¡¯t deserve to be alive, please punished me, I will gladly offer my life to make up my mistake¡±


    [Kergan]: ¡°Please take my life as well it is also my fault, I also agreed to¡­¡±


    Before Kergan could continue Kelan interrupted him.


    [Kelan]: ¡°Enough!¡±


    Kertan and Kergan were putting out their own necks, ready to die for their mistakes, a goblin life was a great treasure that was above all, no greed nor internal fight would serve as excuse to kill another goblin or take another goblin life because of it.


    Kelan only shook his head, it was this believe that prevented the goblin village to fall apart and what prevent Kelan for taking another goblin life, but even if that was the case how can he punished them when they thought they have a chance of procuring food for the entire village, how could they no take on the chance, Kelan would had made the same choice as them.


    But they made two crucial mistakes, one was looking down in the human kid, they should had know better to not look down in any other race, and the second mistake was that they should had come back immediate and look for Kelan and gather more numbers, because a lone kid would not be able to move a 300 kilogram boar very far away, they had being blinded by greed.


    ¡°Even after all the teachings of the great elder goblins, they are still goblins, weak and small goblins¡± Kelan thought to himself once again.


    They too had now realized their own mistakes, that¡¯s why they were asking to die to make up their mistakes.


    The principal enemy of the goblins was they own nature, they were designed to be nothing more than cannon folder, cannon fodder that could think and walk, and feel pain and emotions, what kind of cannon fodder was this? Kelan could only grit his teeth, and curse the gods that put so cruel destiny to them, nevertheless his face didn¡¯t show any change, and remained the same like it was frozen in time.


    [Kelan]: ¡°You two will have half rations of food for a month, and the other half of your ration will be given to Keltan family, do you have any objections, is so, speak now¡±


    With a cold tone, Kelan was imposing a hard punishment on them, in this forest were food was very sparse having their food cut in half was a sentence of die of starvation, if they were not lucky they could die after a month, but¡­


    [Kertan]: ¡°Kelan Please¡­ give all of my food to Keltan family, half is not enough to pay for my sin¡±


    [Kergan]: ¡°Me to, I will give all my food for Keltan family¡±


    Kelan could only shook his head, even if goblins were¡­ weak and stupid¡­ but they care for each other a lot, even if he gave them half death sentence, they still wanted the full sentence, letting a mental sigh, that didn¡¯t show up in his face, Kalan could only¡­


    [Kelan]: ¡°Your request is refuse, I still need you two to be alive to gather food for the rest of the village in the future, half is as low as I can go, think in what your families would do without you the next time you two want to die, you are goblins, so make up for your mistakes while you gather food for the village, and don¡¯t ever think of dying before you pay out your debt to Keltan family, do you understand¡±


    Kelan their pillar, always took the best decisions that they could never made, Kelan a tower holding the sky for them, Kergan and Kertan started to cry while bowing in front of Kelan, their heads touching the floor.


    [Kergan]: ¡°I understand Kelan. I will not die until I pay my debt for the rest of my life with Keltan family¡±


    [Kertan]: ¡°I will do as Kelan commands, thank you Kelan, please keep guiding the goblin village forever to a bright future¡±


    Kelan nodded his head, and exited the room, in the span of just 10 minutes he had made 3 grown goblins cry like little children¡¯s, Kelan could only let out a sigh, before gritting his teeth again.


    The goblins are so weak so powerless, is there any hope for them? Are they doom since the day they are born? Why the goblins were even born for? To be cannon fodder? If so how they had managed to stay alive so far, was it because goblins like Kelan?


    Kelan could not believe this to be the case, he was only one goblin, even if he was the strongest of all individually, if 200 goblin were to come after him, he was sure he could not beat them all.


    Goblins were no weak creatures, born to be step on and die as cannon fodder, goblins were a strong race, all the proof that Kelan needs his the air he was breathing right now, he was alive, because his ancestors had fought very hard battles, high and low, so goblins could live to this day, this was also one of the teaching of the great elder.


    ¡®Never forget you origins, and be proud of what you are, even to this day goblins still remain¡¯


    Yes a goblin individually was weak and pathetic, but together they were strong, Kelan doesn¡¯t need to worried about the goblin future, even if he were to die someday, goblins would remain in this land after him, he only needs to do his best to carry on the legacy of the goblins before him and nothing more.


    Thinking like this, that weight that was burring Kelan to the ground, lessened a little bit, he could now breathe again, and his lifeless eyes that he had after coming out of the room had come back to life again.


    Turning around he could see Alkan with a worried face in the other side of the of street, Kelan could only shook his head to her, as Alkan dropped to the ground and started to sob, Alkan, his own sister, his husband has die this morning, and Kelan could do nothing about it, he could not even offer her any counseling, he was busy, he had things to do right now as the leader of the goblins.


    [Karkan]: ¡°Kelan Team 14 and 15 reporting in, we are ready to depart at any time¡±


    [Kelan]: ¡°Let¡¯s go¡±


    Turning around Kelan leave Alkan sobbing behind him and left the village using the front gate.

 Chapter 27: Trace

    Chapter 27: Trace


    After exiting the village, Kelan lead the teams 14 and 15, to the place Kargan has told him the fight with the human kid had taken place, they only took 1 hour to get there but what they saw when they arrived was something they were not expecting at all.


    It was not uncommon for dead goblins to be devoured by the wild beast of the forest and only a trace of blood to all that remained, most of the goblins were already prepared to gore sight, but this was by far, something they had never seen before in their short lives.


    Kelan himself was stunned for a moment, nevertheless, he was the fastest to recover because in this forest there is no time to be wasting standing there like idiots.


    What the goblins were seeing was a half of boar body hanging of a rope and the body of Keltan buried under a pile of small stones, with his sword marking his grave, as sing of respect to him, this was all arranged so the wild animals didn''t eat his body or the wild boar half body, nevertheless the goblins had arrived relative fast and no wild animal was near or even close.


    Kelan snapped everyone else from their dazed stated.


    [Kelan]: ¡°What are you guys standing there without doing anything for, did you think wild beats wouldn''t come anymore lure by the smell of blood? Had all of you forgotten our mission? Go now and take Keltan body back to the village together with the boar body¡±


    All the goblin nodded, they are here to do a task, so they started to move very fast, team 14 and 15 were experts in recollection of food and¡­ of the fallen goblins.


    In the other hand, Kelan felt something was wrong, even if they had arrived here very fast, this place should be overrun by wild bests attracted by the smell of blood, nevertheless he could not feel a thing, not a single presence in the surrounding area, after a while he understood why, the smell of blood was missing, that''s why he felt the scene was so outplace before, but that was not important right now.


    After the goblin finished recollecting everything they were preparing to leave when¡­


    [Kelan]: ¡°You guys head back to the village, but don¡¯t touch the boar, let the elder examined it first in case is poisoned check the inside very well too"


    The goblins cringed over the thought of poison, they were blinded by hunger, and they never thought it could be still poisoned, as expected of their leader, their goblin pillar.


    [Kelan]: "If there isn''t any poison, give a good part of the boar to Kelgan family, and give him a proper funeral, Kebel, Kanta, you with me, we are going after the human, he should not be that far¡±


    Before Kelan could move, another goblin stopped him.


    [Kenta]: ¡°Wait Kelan, what are you saying, you should go back with us, at least let take more with you¡±.


    Kelan could only shake his head.


    [Kelan]: ¡°Two it is already too much, if I pick one more, I would put all of you in danger, the road back is still not safe, and I can¡¯t risk all of your lives¡±


    [Kenta]: ¡°Then just come back with us, you can chase that human other day, he is still inside this forest we will meet him again eventually¡±.


    Kelan could only shook his head again.


    [Kelan]: ¡°The chance of finding the human again is too small, and he still have the other half of the body, he is still alone and should be moving slowly while dragging that half body, but if it gets to dangerous I will just head back, I will never put my life in risk for being too greedy and there is also¡­ no, forge it, now, go¡±


    Kenta could only follow orders, he could not go against Kelan commands, he was not strong enough to do so, he could only turn around and guide the rest of the goblins, while softly whispered to Kelan ¡°you better return alive you stupid older brother¡±


    Kelan could only let out a sigh, his direct familiar were always the most difficult goblins to deal with, but in the end, every goblin in the village was his brother, his sister, his father and his mother, he would think of all of them like that, nevertheless, goblin blood was always ticker between families.


    Turning around he commanded to Kebel and Kanta


    [Kelan]: ¡°Let¡¯s go¡±


    The tree goblins disappeared into the dark forest.


    [Back when Cyan has just defeated the goblins]


    ¡®Mana please, make this sword as shard and long as you can, I need to cut this horned wild boar body in two


    Cyan felt mana chuckling with a coquis'' laugh while doing as he asked her to do very easily, after taking a lower mana potion he could properly talk with mana again, he just had realized that the less mana he has the less he could talk with Mana.


    After following Arlom for 4 hours around the forest Cyan mana was depleted to the bottom, this was because he did a lot of wasted movements trying to keep up with Arlom speed that was going ¡®slow¡¯, nevertheless, Cyan has wasted a lot of mana just to keep up with him, and after the fight with the horned wild boar and then the goblins he felt like fainting, if not for the recovering potions Cyan would be in unconscious on ground or even death.


    The green potion forcedly used his food reserves, the blue one recovered half his mana, and the red one fixed his broken bones, internal organs and externals wounds in a rate visible to the eye.


    Even if Cyan wasn''t back to top condition, it was not problem to fight with goblins if they show up themselves again, but he felt regret, he has taken a life today, even if it was a goblin life, it was still a life and he still went and did it without thinking.


    Taking a life made him felt so empty, has he done the right thing?


    No, he had to do it, mercy to the enemy? Are you joking with me? One arrow to the head or the heart and he would be the one in the ground.


    Never mind the fact that the goblins were walking, thinking and feeling creatures, and with enough intelligence to be recognized or even to be compare to a human being. Cyan did not care about the race of the goblin, they were the ones that had come attacking him,


    When Cyan had just arrived here, the thought killing somebody was something he would never do in a million years, and yet, here he was, 4 days later and he has already killed someone without feeling anything, was he really feeling regret?.


    The horned wild boar was his first kill but it was a difference, it was obvious that the goblins were smart enough to communicated and form a party and feel pain with the death of their friends. He could also understand them.


    Would you kill a plant that you can communicate with? As well to share your feelings of happiness and sadness with?This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    This was the crucial difference between killing the horned wild boar and the goblins, it was obvious he could not communicate with an animal, but the goblins, he felt like he was fighting with a human.


    Letting out a sigh, Cyan swing down the sword he was still holding, splitting the horned wild boar in two halves, he will leave one half for the others goblins when they come looking for the body of their fallen teammate, Cyan knew they will come back for sure and in no time he need to hurry.


    After hanging the half of the horned wild boar to a tree with the help of his [Mana Armor], looking around Cyan realized that this will surly attack more predators, so he took out a powder that his Master had given him, this should remove any trace of blood and prevent any predator for coming any closer to this area, Cyan was very impressed with all the items Arlom has gave him, he felt he was prepared for almost everything, now he just need to take care of the goblin body.


    Looking around he could see floor was filled with rocks.


    As a final touch Cyan let the sword behind to mark the grave, for something he remembered Serah face, Cyan thought some words to say before leaving.


    [Cyan]: ¡°Kelgan, may you rest in peace¡±


    Doing a prayer, Cyan was preparing to leave after splitting and putting the other half of the wild board into his inventory, the whole process, has taken him, a little more than a 1 hour, his [Hunter instincts] where warning him about incoming danger, and it was growing by the minute, the goblins were coming back, so he choose not to waste any more time and just leave.


    .


    .


    .


    After running at top speed using his [Mana Armor] and following the path his master has teach him for one hour, the alarm in his head was still growing louder as danger come closer to him.


    [Cyan]: ¡°This is impossible¡±


    This feeling, it was like he was being chase by the tail, but how, he should be pretty far away by now, and the goblins should slower than him after he used his [Mana Armor], nevertheless, the danger he feels only keeps growing with each step¡­. Like instead of being chase, he himself was running to the enemy trap.


    ¡®what the h¡­. how is that I am the one going after the enemy and the one being chase at the same time¡¯.


    Cyan chose hit the brakes and to stopped on the spot.


    When he did that the danger he felt stopped growing.


    [Cyan]: ¡°So I am really running directly into a trap¡±


    How was this possible, he should be running away, why he felt that he was running to the dungeon boss by himself, was he suicidal? Has his skill gone bad?


    Turning around a look over the traces he has left behind he started to picture the path he remembers, the path that Arlom has teach him to follow and not very away from it.


    The path was like an inverted S curve that ended in the mountain, then the only way for him to be running to his enemy was, that he was already waiting for him at the end, but that¡¯s impossible, he would have to guess where he was going, and what was the path he was taking, and then he should take a short cut right to the destination, he would have to know the hidden dangers or the forest and overcome them, this was truly something ominous for cyan.


    This was not any run of the milk goblin, this was veteran hunter, some that knew this forest like the palm of his hand, and could predict Cyan destination only by using the traces he had left, this was truly something he should be very afraid of, he was just looking down the other party because they were just goblins and now this was coming back to bite him.


    And what''s worse, he could not do anything about it, he only knew one path and that was it, he can¡¯t turn back either, the other party should had also put tracks to prevent Cyan for turning back, taking another path was also suicidal, Arlom has steamily warned him to always follow this path, and never to leave it, he was not joking when he made Cyan promise it, even if not in his name Cyan still would keep the promises he has made, he could only grit his teeth and¡­ move forward.


    As soon as he started to run again, the alarm in his head grew louder again, he was right, the other party has predicted his route using the traces he has left and now it was waiting for him at the end of the path, Cyan could only let out a sigh and prepare for battle while he tried to understand this skill of his.


    Just before, his skill has activate against someone that was very afar from him, they never had meet before, nevertheless it started warning him since the beginning and only grew in time.


    But when the goblins appeared from the bush his skill did not show any sign what so ever until the goblins took out their sword, the danger was not immediate, the goblins were shocked to had crossed the path of Cyan, they were no expecting to find him, nevertheless, the took action as soon as possible, that¡¯s when his skill activated.


    The only clue that Cyan has now, is that the other party needs to be aware of him so it can work.


    That¡¯s is to say if some was targeting Cyan with bad intentions his skill would activate, but if the other party was not targeting, even if it was dangerous to cross their path, his skill will not activate until it was too late.


    Looking the bright side, it means the goblins still don¡¯t know Cyan was aware of the incoming trap and was getting ready for it, but he still couldn¡¯t prepared for hidden dangers until it was too late.


    Knowing that he could not turn back of leave the path, Cyan could try to put a counter attack, nevertheless, just in a single day, this was going to be his third battle already, he could not help but to feel tired already.


    ¡®Is this how Arlom experience every day? Fighting over and over again, even allowed to take a rest¡¯


    Cyan has just go out to gather some food, and he was already in the path to his third death battle of the day, and the day was not even half over, he could only grit his teeth and slow down his speed to conserve his strength and mana, but not too much to not alert the other party that he was aware of his presence.


    While running Cyan started to trace a plan of escape and If necessary he will use ¡®that¡¯, the thing his master has gave him for last resource, he only has one and it was use only so he can¡¯t miss, this thing, is a sure to kill weapon, and Cyan last option just in case.


    Cyan was very grateful to his master, he could charge at the enemy, knowing that some has his back, his always dependable master. The same one that has left him to fend for himself in this forest of death, he was not stupid.


    Arlom disappearing coincidently after Cyan had killed the horned wild boar and the goblins show up?


    All the items he had gave him ¡°just in case they get separated¡±?


    The most stupid and predictable path he could think of, that was so easy to predict and he needs to follow no matter what?


    Of course this was all Arlom plan, how could Cyan don¡¯t get mad at him, he understand now why Arlom has not given him any poison today, if he were to be under the influence poison returning alive would be a miracle, this¡­ this was the true training that Arlom was talking about, Cyan could only left another sigh, ¡®stupid master, wait for me you will see¡¯


    .


    .


    .


    Kelan started to follow the traces left for the human kid, it has his suspicious at first but after following the traces he was certain now, not a trace of the other half of the body could be found, then that could only meant that¡­ this human kid was carrying an inventory bag with him.


    Kelan eyes glee with greed, this item was even more precious than 100 boards meat, but he has took notice of other things too, this human kid was an amateur, as it did not hide his tracks nor was leaving any traps behind, and above all, even If he was traveling a lot faster than Kelan has calculate, he could still know exactly what path the human kid was using, this was truly gift send to him by the gods.


    How could he let this opportunity past, an inventory bag filled with hidden treasures, a weak human kid that doesn''t know even the basics of running away, he needs to take this chance no matter what.


    [Kelan]: ¡°Kebel, Kanta, go back, this human is too much for you two, go back and tell the elder that I am going to the lava mountain¡±.


    Kebel and Kanta were stunned, theirs faces were saying like ¡®are you crazy? Did you think we will leave you behind and go back? Did you think we are so despicable to do such a thing? Or it is that we are so weak that we really can be of any help to you¡¯


    Kelan could read their faces like an open book, he could no help to sigh,


    [Kelan]: ¡°This is an order, now go back, and tell the village elder what I tell you to¡±


    Kebel and Kanta could only grit their teeth, because they were so weak they couldn¡¯t follow behind Kelan, Kelan was their pillar, but who was the pillar to their pillar? Wasn¡¯t there any other goblin strong enough to support it? Are the two of them too weak for that?


    Nevertheless they could only obey as they turned around and returned.


    After they left, Kelan could finally let out a real sigh after all this time, his frozen face loosen out, as a smile could finally being see reflected in his face.


    Finally, he was all alone, he could stop being a pillar for a moment and go back to being just a goblin, all the weight over his shoulders started to disappear, as a blue mantle started to cover over all of his body.


    This human kid look very promising he could release some of his accumulated stress now.


    Even if Kelan has loosen up a little, he still had not forgotten his life mission, make the goblins prosper, but if keep his frozen face all the time, he would explode like a ticking time bomb, it was good to loosen out once in a while, and this time, the target was Cyan.


    Putting out his mana shield, Kelan dashed out in a blue light to where he thought, Cyan would be waiting for him, yes, he has this feeling that this human kid will be waiting for him in that spot, ready to fight him, he didn¡¯t how to explain it, but he didn¡¯t care, he will just enjoy the moment.


    [Kelan]: ¡°Wait up for me kid, let me have some fun today¡±