《Guardian of Nature》 Chapter 01 The sun shone brightly onto the broad tree''s and scattered leaves of an ancient looking forest. Tree''s as high as human sky scrapers dominated the view making one be unable to see the end of this sacred forest. Several paths both man made and beast made circle around this vast forest filled with riches, beasts, and death. Overflowing with nature and life, this ancient forest is known as the Ordust Forest, one of the most mysterious yet most sacred forests in the entire world of Forus. On this bright and sunny day, a carriage containing several goods was moving along surrounded by several regal looking knights while using one of the main man made paths through this vast forest. Sitting at the front seat is a young looking child that is two years old with a black blindfold on. He wears dirt specked thin peasant clothing with several scratches and bruises all over him. His hands and legs were tied together while a fat looking merchant was spouting nonsense at him. ¡°Its too bad, boy. Without elemental affinities, you are just trash. Sure you could be a warrior, but being a part of the great Maphorus family? Haha!¡± The little boy remains silent to the provocations of the fat merchant. The fat merchant takes offense to this, but doesn''t do anything to the little boy as a hideous looking expression comes over his face as he scans the tall tree''s of the forest. After half an hour of travel, they stop near the edge of one of the interconnected beast and man made paths. One of the regal knights comes up his thick metal armor lined with weird looking lines all over them that pulse slowly every few seconds. He grabs onto the little boy by the scruff of his neck and tugs him like a loaded sack. Walking a few minutes away and slightly into the outer regions of the forest he throws the boy down roughly and walks off. Left alone to his own devices the little boy finally breaks down into tears. His family checked his body for elemental affinities the day he was born and found out he doesn''t carry a speck of any affinity. His life force was very stronger for an infant but the lack of affinities was too much of a stain in their eyes for them to realize this. They waited two years to see if the situation changed but ultimately sentenced him to death with the official story being that he got ¡°lost in the ancient forest during an expedition¡±. As the child''s tears kept coming down his face he heard a subdued growl coming from near the tree''s around him. Unable to see or move the child''s instinct to run was suppressed therefore he started to wail harder. When he tried to think of someone to call for he realized he had no one left and cried even harder. The growl started getting louder as the creature who was growling got closer to the little boy before it was right on top of him. Out of tears and unable to escape the little boy simply resigns himself to the pain that will happen. The little boy has no concepts of death due to his limited education but the stories the maids told him before he was cast out talked of the scary monsters within the forest which kept him up at night. As he contemplated whether this monster will eat him up right away or eat him piece by piece he felt his bindings fall off of him. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Seeing his freedom at hand he quickly jumped up and hit something that felt like solid rocks and stumbled back down to the floor while grumbling loudly in pain. Raising his tear stained face, he saw the snout of a large green furred creature. He stood tall and proud except for half of his right fluffy light green ear missing and half of the width of his tail torn off. In awe of the large creature the little boy rubbed his hands all over his snout and then curiosity took over. His hand grabbed for the half ear of the creature before it started grumbling again. Realizing this was the scary creature from before the little boy got his senses back together and crawled away rapidly. The creature in response pounced onto him and held him down with his front paws effortlessly. Looking into the eyes of the creature now that he was captured the little boy only saw curiosity and something else deep within that he couldn''t identify. After a while of examining the creature and looking at himself he realized deep down what he felt when he looked into the creatures eyes yet felt it was impossible. He felt family. The moment that realization clicked the little boy felt something within him and the creature mingle together. His soul connected to the creature and he felt information flood through his mind. The creature was known as a Nature Wolf, a one-in-a-billion occurrence in this world. They are considered lone wolves as they are so different from the normal packs of wolfs they are born from that they tend to get discriminated and finally expelled from their packs. With their stronger and faster physiques as well as unique magic that is even rarer than life magic they tend to get hunted down to be contracted beasts. The reason why the little boy could understand all of this despite having little education of the outside world was due to the Nature Wolf commencing a pack link onto the little boy with him as the leader. Without the boy even realizing he accepted the link due to the familiarity he felt with the wolfs situation as it was the same as him; a person exiled from their family for being different or not enough for them. After the connection, the large wolf scooped the little boy up by using his head and allowed him to saddle him like he was a horse. Making sure he was firmly seated upon his back he ran off into the very edge of the outer region, his tracks disappearing as the forest covered his escape. Chapter 02 The boy and wolf arrived at a cave big enough for three wolfs to fit inside. With the Nature Wolf''s physique he was 10 ft tall and wide making him two times the size of normal wolfs within this region therefore making it enough for him to fill more than half of the cave. The little boy slid off the wolf when he finally stopped and then looked up at the majestic creature who took him under his wing. Sensing the little boy''s appraising eyes roam all over him the wolf seemed to preen himself up and lift his head with pride. Seeing this gesture made the little boy giggle for the first time in months before it became a full blown laugh as the wolf donned a shocked look as if it truly was proud of itself. Rolling around the floor filled with mirth the wolf began to poke at the little boy''s stomach with his long snout making the little boy''s laughter increase. Out of breath after ten minutes of this treatment the little boy looked up at the wolf with a smile filled with gratitude. Grumbling and letting loose snorts from his wolf the wolf showed his back to the little boy. A crafty smile appeared on the little boy''s face as he realized the wolf was shy before he ran up to the wolf and hugged a quarter of his whole body, rubbing his face into his fur. Taking a seat onto the floor the wolf let him do as he wants before looking out into the darkening horizon. Laying his head down both child and beast settle in for the night as the stressful evening caught up to both of them. When they both woke up it was early morning. Dew was still dripping off of the many leaves of the forest and the forest seemed to come alive as all the creatures of the ancient forest woke up. Looking down at his new and unusual pack mate the wolf poked his snout at the back of the child as he started getting up, making him fall back down onto his face. Letting out a throaty laugh the wolf watched the little boy spit out dirt and leaves stuck in his mouth. Pouting at the wolfs antics the wolf''s eyes indicated otherwise as a serious atmosphere enveloped them. Shifting his eyes the wolf looked out of the cave and waved its head over to the small boy, indicating for him to follow. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Quickly running up to the wolf they both began to tread the forest floor side by side. Looking down at the wolfs paws the little boy realized how silent the wolf was before patting the side of its fur. Noticing what the boy wanted it lifted its paws and simply showed the boy the movements as well as popping out its muscles while it did so to show the little boy how to replicate the silent movement. Scrunching up his forehead and eyebrows the little boy began to practice the movement. Nodding towards the little boy the wolf sat down on all floors and kept its awareness up at all times as it nudged and prodded the little boy with his snout several times to correct his movements. This continued well until the night with the little boy sweating and breathing in and out heavily. Without him noticing the wolf was funneling a golden line of energy into the boy that kept him just at the brink of exhaustion while re-building and re-configuring his muscles. As the boy dragged his tired body back into the cave, the wolf on the other hand was astonished. The little boys body was highly malleable as well as energy conductive compared to any other creature he has ever seen. The little boy''s determination was high for even if the energy he supplied the child managed to keep him on the brink of exhaustion he never gave up which is a rarity for children of the two legs and weak bodies. It has lived for a thousand years without its pack and has seen many amazing things yet time and time again this little boy astonishes it. Looking at the little boy waving and smiling at him from the lip of the cave a warmth spreads over the wolf before it quickly enters the cave with the boy once more. Chapter 03 In the very edge of the outer regions of the Ordust Forest a wolf and a little boy are gliding across the ground as if they are a part of it. Their footsteps are light and their tracks seem to disappear wherever they go. The very leaves and shrubbery seems to move out of their way as they pass. What is shocking about this scene is both the boy''s skill, speed, and body. After two years of being part of the wolves ¡°pack¡± the boys body has been remodeled to be that of a sleek predator. Due to his diligent care and the wolfs constant nudging his practice routine has sculpted his little body into that of a fierce enemy to all those in the outer regions of the forest. His top speed is now the same as that of his ¡°pack¡± leader. The greatest change that has gone through him is the fact that he can use parts of the Nature Wolf''s abilities. A Nature Wolf is attuned to Nature itself. This allows them to erase their tracks from the earth, command nearby tree''s and plants to move aside, and even make the entire forest the enemy of the wolves enemy. This is one of the reasons why Nature Wolf''s are sought after companions by human kingdoms. The only ability the little boy, now 4 years old, lacks is the ability to make the very forest his ally against his enemies. The little boy''s progress has shocked even the wolf himself. Seeing the boys potential he immediately started instructing him both physically and spiritually. By manipulating the energy within himself constantly he was able to bring the little boy to his physical peak in only a year. After constantly using his life force on the boy he realized he started picking up the acute senses that he himself enjoyed as a Nature Wolf as well as parts of his ability. Seeing his spiritual talents, the wolf started training the little boy by showing him the golden glow he always fed him little by little and hoped that the familiar feeling coming off of it would teach the little boy. When the little boy first saw it he got the feeling that he''s always felt it for the past year and finally realized it was the feeling he got when he was just about to pass out during training that kept lifting him up out of unconsciousness. Trying to replicate the ability he looked like a ripe tomato as his face went red as he also showed his own golden glow coming off of him until he passed out after only five seconds of this. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. After that experiment the wolf kept showing the little boy everything he knew and he kept making him practice his spiritual powers every single day until another year passed. Now the little boy''s power was halfway to the wolf''s power spiritually and it took the wolf a thousand years to get to this level of power. Slightly depressed he decided to test the little boy''s abilities on some of the outer regions more dangerous beasts. The beast being targeted for this test was a Golden Tortoise. With the light affinity, diamond-like shell and the ability to launch long ranged spikes from its shells it is a truly difficult beast to defeat. The long ranged spikes can be used as a short ranged club as the tortoise moves into its shell and attempts to ram its enemies which makes it even more devastating of an opponent. On top of that it was 30 ft tall and 50 ft wide making it a truly huge beast. Stopping 10 ft away from this ancient beast the little boy''s eyes went as wide as saucers as his eyes scanned up and down this huge beast. Looking behind him he had just enough time to close up his mouth to cut off his scream as the wolf roughly pushed him toward the Golden Tortoise from behind then disappeared into the thickets. The little boy sensing a looming shadow over him looked back around and saw huge round blue eyes staring at him with a furious look in them before a loud roar bellowed out from the Golden Tortoise. Startled by the roar the little boy instinctively leaps to the right, rolling away from a spear shaped spike spearing itself into the ground where he was standing. Cold sweat went down his back as his first life or death battle started. All this time he was shielded from the cruelty of the forest due to the energy the wolf always fed him but he knew he''d have to one day fight creatures to test and hone his skills. Now that it was staring him in the face his fear nearly overtook him before he remembered his reason for being here. Slapping his face lightly to wake himself up, he charges at the Golden Tortoise while watching his every move carefully. Chapter 04 As the little boy rushed in the Nature Wolf was sitting on the side lines with his senses fully active as he scanned the nearby forest. Fights against king-like figures such as the Golden Tortoise would naturally attract the attention of other figures at the top of the food chain and those who wish to scavenge from the remains of such a fight. It is also why there are rarely such fights for progression within the forest for fear of lowly scavengers finishing you off prevents such fights. A wolf-like grin appeared on the Nature Wolf''s face as he watched his beloved pack member expertly dodge another thick spike. Using the power of the forest itself due to his life and death crisis he finally started commanding the very forest to fight the Golden Tortoise. The wolf did not explain to the little boy how he fully awoke his own abilities but it required him to put his life on the line. The wolf was not human but had intelligence that was the same if not greater than a human and used his annoyance of the little boy to cover up the real truth of this expedition. Coughing lightly, bleed slowly started to seep out of the wolf''s mouth. Swallowing down the bitter blood once more, the wolf stabilized his inner energy once more before casting his senses outwards once more. Hearing the snapping of branches and the rustling of grass he realized that the vultures have come as they must have heard the fighting from miles away. As the fight began to tone down due to the forest forming green spikes of hardened grass into the openings of the Golden Tortoise, the surroundings began to get louder as dozens of weaker beasts emerged from the thickets. Mutated dog-like creatures, slithering obsidian snakes, and horned rabbits all came out of the grass works. As the fight finally concluded the little boy passed out due to energy consumption and the beasts in turn pounced. A roar filled with pressure that could make even a prideful dragon bow emitted throughout the clearing. The Nature Wolf came out of hiding standing tall and regal, as if a sovereign looking down at mortal servants. The beasts all shivered in fear and froze or quickly darted away at the sight. The one''s that stood stock still got another reminder of the wolf''s might as powerful spikes of hardened grass tore through them ten times faster and stronger than the little boy''s spikes. Finally the rest got the message and scampered away leaving a forest floor akin to an ancient battlefield filled with corpses and the stink of blood and flesh. Grabbing onto the naked neck of the little boy the wolf darted off and made several zig zagging motions before coming back to their original cave. The wolf stood guard for an entire week before the little boy woke up with a start and a battle cry. Seeing that he is alive he jumped up from his resting spot and jumped up and down before the weariness of having no energy for an entire week caught up to him. Falling back down, he grunted as he looked over to his mentor, leader, and family member. The wolf looked back at him with a wolfish grin but his eyes said something else. Placing a paw onto the chest of the little boy he started pouring energy far too pure to be normal energy intake he''s ever had. Before he can protest he felt an ancient voice crash into his consciousness that rattled even his very soul speaking in a melancholic but proud voice. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°My son, I thank you for giving me what I could never achieve before. I, Graphus, am grateful that I found you when I was searching for someone to inherit all that I am. I wished to couple and mate with another of my species and let my off spring take my mantle but I could not find another like myself. Maybe this is fate, or the Spirit World showing its benevolence and kindness for keeping the outer regions of this forest clean and pure. Whatever the reason, thank you child, and I wish for you to do one last favor before I pass away.¡± Tears started to spring from the little boy''s face as he realized his only family member was leaving him. The wolf didn''t say it but the gut feeling and the sad tone in the mental voice being projected to him told him everything. Hearing his request though gave the child a resolute look to his face as he scrunched up his hands. ¡°I would have told you before but I fear you would not have been ready to hear the truth. Us nature wolves are actually spirits with a physical body. We live for a thousand years at maximum and must then recycle our physical body and enter the Spirit Realm in order to add our experiences and power to the Spiritual. I pushed my body in order to train you and then overdid it in protecting you from other predators when you passed out. Do not blame yourself. I will return to the Mortal Realm in a thousand mortal years. One year in the Spiritual Realm is ten years in the Mortal Realm therefore I will spend 100 years to recuperate within the Spiritual Realm. You will know all of the full intricacies of these Realms in good time but know that if you gain enough strength you will still be alive when I come back into this world.¡± Nodding once more the little boy stood stock still and silent, awaiting the wolf''s final request. ¡°I shall bear upon you my legacy. In return, I wish for you to take up my mantle and be Graphus, Guardian of Nature!¡± As the wolf spoke the last part, the little boy''s soul seemed to rattle. Instead of fear the child felt excitement as he nodded to the request. Nodding, the wolf flooded the little boy with all the excess energy he can risk before his very soul seemed to come out of his mortal body. A lustrous golden wolf with complete tale and ears came out of the green wolf before it turned to ashes before the little boy''s very eyes. Before the little boy fainted he felt a voice even more ancient then the wolf rock his entire consciousness as it left an imprint on his soul. ¡°Child, as a Guardian of Nature, know this. Banish all those who wish to destroy this land and in return you are granted the Nature affinity. Uncommonly known as the Divine Element!¡± Finally, the little boy felt no more. The energy coming off him before being absorbed into him collapsed the cave inwardly, sealing the little boy within. Chapter 05 Six years have passed since these events have transpired. When the legacy was given, experts that could rock the entire world felt its passing and various lower tier experts were sent in search of whoever possessed the legacy. The true secret of the ¡°Nature Wolves¡± is something only those closest to them and high tier experts know therefore they were only tasked to find Nature Wolves in return for prestige and money. After years of searching not a single legacy carrier was found and all of the Nature Wolves seemed to have gone into hiding. But this doesn''t concern our hero, the little boy, for a long time. A desolate caved in area contained an eerie silence to it. Many beasts have gone and left this area as it was a place rich with energy yet it quickly became a no mans land as none of the king beasts wished to provoke the other in fear of being eaten by scavengers and none of the normal beasts had the strength to hold it for long before they were killed by swarms of jealous beasts. Today was another quiet morning in this no mans land until a hand suddenly appeared coming straight out of the ground. Grasping onto the tips of the sturdy grass nearby the hand pulls the body of a figure out of the ground. Standing at six feet tall the ¡°little¡± boy has now grown to the size and shape of a 16 year old. The little boy, now named Graphus, had grass green eyes, bright green tinted wolf ears on top of his dark green colored hair. Lean muscle covered his entire body that showed his hidden strength while his aura commanded respect. The childish smile on his face and the innocence contained within his eyes despite his knowledge of this world made him seem unreal due to his king-like aura. Looking to and fro, Graphus realized how much has changed both within, on his body, and to the forest itself. Casting his senses outwards using the energy technique he learned from his mentor, he felt how alive the forest truly felt. Graphus realized how much his powers have been amplified due to what his mentor and now that he realizes it, father, did to him and a single tear escaped his eyes. Rubbing it off quickly he sharpened his senses and began to walk towards the inner regions of the forest. From what the imprint within his soul has taught him during his long sleep and metamorphosis his outlook on life has only changed slightly. He is still the child he usually is but he has the cold logical thinking of a predator as well as his protective instincts within him to help nature itself as much as possible. He won''t stop a tiger from eating a rabbit but if someone is trying to control nature his role is to stop it to a degree depending on what the offense is. He can ignore these instincts but in return his ability to control and communicate with nature itself weakens and vice versa. Reaching the inner regions of the forest, Graphus allows a big smile to appear on his face as he prepares himself to get stronger. In order to fully harness his powers he will practice on the inner region beasts that he should be equal to. The lower tier monsters within the inner regions can rival the king beasts of the outer regions but they do not fight them for a single reason; the inner region''s quantity and quality of energy is higher. These beasts would rather be small fish in an ocean than big fish in a pond. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. After thirty minutes of traveling cautiously within the inner regions of the forest Graphus''s senses pick up a presence rushing towards him from a far. Hiding in a bush nearby and smothering his aura he waits until a creature bounds out of the thickets ahead of him and looks around in confusion. The creature in question is a Black Gorilla, known for its massive strength and agility as well as its temperament to challenge anything stronger than it. They breed fast but thankfully they are stupid compared to other beasts. As this information flowed into Graphus''s mind through his soul imprint the beast started to walk away with an angry expression plastered on its face due to the lack of a fight. Just as it started to walk back it felt a whistling noise behind it and the gorilla''s hand swished back to deflect the projectile only to have it caught in its wrist. Roaring in anger and pain the gorilla beat its chest with its hands letting out a powerful aura as it did so. Lodged within his hand is a green spiked formed from grass but its might is five times stronger than the first time Graphus used his powers and his energy count is even higher than before. A smirk appeared on Graphus''s face as his blood pumped with excitement as he watched the gorilla''s actions slowing down and its aura dimming. Within the grass was a specially created sleeping poison that the boy knew from rummaging through the soul imprint in his forced sleep. Watching the gorilla finally fall he bounded out of his hiding spot and stared down at the gorilla. Rearing his hand back he practiced his body''s martial strength by testing it on the hardest parts of the gorilla''s body and found out that his strength is much stronger than the gorilla''s by at least twice. His greatest strength is still his nature affinity but his physical body is enough for most beasts in the inner regions until he starts fighting the beast kings of the inner region. Satisfied with his test of strength he quickly created a grass blade and cut the gorilla open before eating his body raw. As the body was eaten raw he was able to turn it directly into energy within his body. The now pure energy would then clean his body of impurities within the raw food and expel it into the air which made his digestive system now redundant due to his affinity which was a plus to him since he thought it was ¡°icky¡± due to his childish mind. After the boy finished his meal he bounded off further into the forest his smile still plastered on his now bloody face. Chapter 06 A lone boy who looks like he is sixteen years old jumps up and down the branches of the inner regions ancient forest. Wearing beast pelts and sporting the aura of a king the boy repels the other beasts from approaching him. Moving to the core of the forest the boy stops at the boundaries and lets his aura flare up before entering. Absolute silence greets the boy as he enters the core region of the forest. After traveling within it he pushes a long bush out of the way and finds a mesmerizing sight. A beautiful clear lake with vibrant colors reflecting off of it makes it look like a diamond covered lake. Lush herbs sit near the lake with energy practically oozing out of the earth. Curling up on the ground nearby is a white colored nine tailed fox with a different color on the tips of each tail. The moment the boy who, from his childlike curiosity and excitement is obviously Graphus, enters the white tailed fox notices. It slowly gets up but then groans in pain lightly under its breath which Graphus hears quite clearly. In the six years of fighting the local beast kings and harnessing his strength within the inner regions Graphus''s senses have reached an all time high and his energy is at the level of his beloved mentor so hearing something so close is quite easy for him. Now sixteen years old Graphus has learned a lot in his stay within the beast forest and has come to challenge the core region''s beasts in order to complete his climb to power but it seems not all is as it looks. Staring into the pained look on the fox''s face he then looks around the fox until Graphus spots two twin tailed foxes of similar color to the fox before him hiding in a bush nearby. Looking back to the large fox he realizes it is the mother of the two foxes and promptly lowers his domineering aura to a trickle. Walking closer to the mother fox he smiles gently at her and waves a bit of his aura to her. Her eyes widen before bowing slightly to Graphus before letting out another groan of pain. Reassured the fox knows who he is now per his energy he gets closer to her and touches her lightly then pulses her with energy. Immediately he knows what is wrong with her and gives her a sad expression in return. Nature affinity is powerful but part of nature is death therefore the healing abilities of the affinity are restricted to healing normal wounds and diseases. The mother fox depleted too much energy giving birth and it seemed some old internal injuries within her from a past battle opened up when she gave birth. She is now on her last leg and there is nothing he can do about it. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Seeing the sad expression on his face the mother fox understands. Placing a paw onto Graphus''s forehead and closes her eyes as she begins transferring her life time knowledge and energy into Graphus. Knowing the process from before, Graphus opens his mind up to her and feels various affinities entering his soul. Strangely enough the nature affinity within him consumes these affinities and seems to grow larger within his soul in turn strengthening his soul. The knowledge she transferred was her lifetime knowledge of both her own species and how to control the elements. ¡°Guardian of Nature, it seems that spirits wished us to meet. If not, why else would the spirits listen to my plea for help? My children have yet to even grow into adults and do not have the power to protect themselves from greedy humans nor the vicious beasts that will wish to kill them for the energy within them. In return for the knowledge and power I have granted you, please safe guard my children.¡± Before Graphus could respond the light within the mother fox''s eyes faded out completely. Her body turned into ash just like Graphus''s old mentor did. As she turned into ash two white tails appeared as symbols engraved onto his right palm. Burning slightly into his skin he felt a connection to two other foreign minds. ¡°Mother!¡± ¡°Mommy!¡± Two small foxes bounded over to where the ashes collected onto the ground. Huddling together and weeping little tears, Graphus feels his heart tear up a bit and he is reminded of his old mentor that much more as he stares at the ashes. Not realizing that tears were flowing down his cheeks rapidly he got closer to the little foxes and hugged them warmly. The foxes heads instinctively fell onto his chest, rubbing onto him affectionately as they felt the strength and familiarity in his warm hold. Laughing lightly he rubs both their heads lightly and realizes both of them are girls as his connection to their foreign minds stabilizes as they instinctively accept him as their care taker. Looking up at him with their aqua blue eyes and swinging tails, a smile spreads onto his face as he points at each fox in turn and names them. ¡°Lem.¡± ¡°Len.¡± Speaking to them through their link they instantly nod each time he speaks a name to them. Hearing a growling noise come from them and himself he realizes that they are all hungry. ¡°Food!¡± Chapter 07 Graphus PoV Another two years have passed since the death of the mother fox and I am now eighteen years old. I had to spend a full year consolidating my hold of the core region while feeding the bottomless twin foxes. Their appetites could depopulate this entire forest if it weren''t for most of them having high reproductive rates. Top quality inner region beasts were the only thing they ate and beast kings were their ¡°dessert.¡± Despite their fussy nature with food and their bratty attitude he loved them with all his heart. He missed having a family and he always felt guilty about not being able to repay his mentor for the kindness he gave him. Hence when he was done consolidating his hold on the core region by fighting off peak level beast kings from the inner region and when the bratty foxes stomachs started to stabilize he went into wolf mode. He became stern with the Lem and Len and began teaching them the knowledge that the mother fox left and in turn he taught himself as he still didn''t have enough time to fully consolidate his knowledge due to constant fighting within the core region. He especially had to be extra strict with Lem as she was the trickster of the bunch. The moment she mastered the air element she began creating mirages of herself so that she could go ¡°play¡± with the beasts near the core region which nearly gave me a heart attack. Len was much more docile and obedient towards me and was usually the one who caught Lem out on her tricks. I swear I saw her looking through my beast skins and sniffing it with a look of ecstasy on her face once though I must have been seeing things since the moment I looked again Len looked completely fine. So far I have noticed that Lem learned by pushing her affinities to the limit through abstract means while Len was much more linear in her thinking. She could solve things logically but anything outside of that logic shocks her system too much while Lem loves things that are outside of said logic. Due to this I have had to switch my teaching style many times to accommodate them both and finally I have been able to make them master their two starting affinities as they are both twin tailed. Their tails represent air as a brighter than usual tail and earth as a green tipped tail which they have fully mastered. They would have been known as freaks of nature for learning so fast if it weren''t for the fact that the knowledge crammed in my head by the mother fox cut down the learning time by hundreds of years. By now the foxes and I are ready to travel the known world as I have grown quite stuffy within the confines of this region and the twins need to learn more about this world. Looking over to the twin foxes, a radiant smile grows on my face as I see they''ve rapidly grown to the size of their mother at 10 ft high and 5 ft wide with their two tails swishing back and forth rapidly. Lem adorns a crafty look on her face while Len has a stern and deep look in her eyes. ¡°Girls, it is time we leave this area. You have both grown well and I am proud of you... despite your misgivings, Lem.¡± Lem immediately drops her crafty look and pouts with a look of fake outrage. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°How dare you insult me, papa! I am a good girl.¡± Len drops her own look of serious contemplation and cracks her face into a grin. ¡°C''mon, sis. When was the last time that hurt puppy dog look worked on him?¡± Pouting even harder, the look of outrage drops from her face before she looks away with a ¡°hmph¡±. ¡°Lets go, girls, before we all start fighting.¡± Suddenly, the aura of death and decay sweeps over the core region from the very outer zone of the forest. The twin foxes gag at the smell and wrinkle their nose while I simply scrunch up my eyebrows as I do not smell it as acutely as the foxes which is quite strange. After years of being together I can feel things from their bonds if they feel it strongly enough and their mental defenses slip up or when they willingly show it to me so I can feel their disgust and hatred to the seemingly imaginative smell. ¡°Ew, what is that smell, papa!¡± ¡°Gross!¡± Staring at the direction the smell is coming from, I can tell it is slowly getting closer to the inner regions and it will get to the core region in a couple of hours if no one stops it. Rubbing my chin slightly I look over to the foxes with a serious expression on my face. ¡°I believe it might be a repellent of sorts... the forest does not like whatever it is but until they get to the inner regions I cannot specify what it actually is. I have a hunch that it is a strong monster repellent since it does not affect me but it clearly affects you. Try to think past the smell and decay and tighten your mental defenses and I should be right.¡± Nodding the foxes do as he is told and instantly their complexions get better. They circle around me before bumping me with their side several times and rubbing onto him affectionately. Patting them lightly and laughing he slowly untangles himself from them before he goes back to his alert mode. ¡°Do you feel anything else, girls?¡± Looking back at the direction of the smell the foxes rapidly nods. ¡°Papa, I feel a big sense of danger coming towards us but it felt stronger before I strengthened my internal defenses like you taught us.¡± Nodding towards them, I recall a lesson on the soul and their affinities and how they can shut out outside influences. Looks like that came in handy due to the intruders coming towards our domain. ¡°Listen, girls. Whatever is coming must be weaker than us if they must use whatever they are using to ward off the other beasts. That is not a guarantee however therefore we will wait a few hours until they pass the inner region and then I can test their level of strength. If they are too strong, we will retreat the other way. Understood?¡± Putting on a brave face with a bloodthirsty look in their eyes the sisters both nod at the same time as they sit down on their paws and observe their surroundings just as I taught them. Hopefully they won''t have to fight what is coming as I do not want to fail the mother fox this early on. Chapter 08 ??? PoV ¡°Hmph. Father, why do we have to enter this retched forest? We could just hire a bunch of mercenaries to do whatever you want us to do in the center of this forest and they''ll gladly do it for the gold we''d pay them.¡± Looking over to my son, I sigh in my heart as I wonder if it was my soft heart towards my only heir that created this lazy dumbass. Maris Sunton has sun kissed bronze skin with obsidian black hair and aqua blue eyes, and 6 ft tall making him look truly stunning if it weren''t for his chubby cheeks, bulging stomach, and fat hands from indulging himself one too many times. ¡°Son, listen --¡± ¡°Father, it is alright. He clearly cannot put it into his pebble sized mind that the whole reason we are here is to show him what the real world is truly like. It is not all woman, booze, and good food and you best remember that, brother.¡± On the other hand, it is sometimes disputed on whether my heir''s manly soul was stolen and placed into my only daughter. Vanessa Sunton is considered a warrior princess as her flowing blonde hair wrapped in a ponytail, plump red lips, mud brown eyes, and womanly curves make her a top beauty. What makes her a true warrior princess is the armor with pulsating lines, great sword attached to her back, and expert swordsmanship that makes her revered within the military ranks of his prospering kingdom of Sunton. On top of that she is an expert at utilizing Qi, the energy of the world, in strengthening herself and her equipment that allows her to contend with men in the military twice her senior. ¡°Exactly, my daughter. If you do not listen to me as my heir then you may see what it is like living without the vast riches you are born into. If you continue your tirades you might have to live your favorite ¡°mercenaries¡± life style to get by in life.¡± Gulping with a pale face Maris quickly wipes off the arrogant and enraged look he had before and straightens himself up as he starts to walk with his back straight, his eyes scanning the forest rapidly. Sighing, I shake my head at my sons lack of a spine and keep holding the warding object in my hand. After extensive research the researchers of my kingdom have figured out a way to repel monsters and it has worked splendidly on all the dangerous species it was practiced on. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. My son''s education was really an excuse to use this incense without having too many people asking questions. The real reason I am out here with the elite of my military is to enter the core region of this sacred forest to gain some of the treasures within to help my daughter. She will never submit to a marriage and the military of my kingdom would rather revolt than to see her married off to some distant king who would never utilize her might and would just keep her as a trophy. Hence to improve my standing with the military and to slowly cut away my heir''s support I must do this for my daughter. As a king especially in my elder years, I do not truly have that much power; it is my advisers that have the power in my kingdom and it is a constant balancing act in the court to make sure they don''t start assassinating each other for more power. Going back to the present, we have managed to make it to the core region. Pushing back the thick bushes that seem to be dotted all over the core region''s outer area we finally make it to the fabled clearing only to stop cold in our tracks. A formless pressure slams into everyone around me including myself and I feel as if I am in the presence of a true king; a ruler of rulers. Looking up as I am barely able to keep my face from smashing into the ground I see a teenage boy in beast skins staring back at me with an indifferent look in his grass green eyes. The boy simply keeps staring before the aura subsides as if it was an illusion in the first place. One look into the boy''s eyes completely negates this fantasy however as the piercing look of a ruler still remains. Hearing a light growl behind the boy I finally notice the twin foxes behind the boy and nearly blanch in terror. Elemental Foxes, one of the mythical beasts of old, can move mountains and collapse the very oceans with the flick of a tail due to their full grasp of the elements. The two foxes only have two tails but that just means they already have mastery of two elements or so the old legends go. Looking over to the elites I brought with me I realize they see the same thing as I do. A silent standstill begins as both parties simply stare each other down; one due to fear and the other due to an inability to communicate.