《Beast Knight》


 Chapter 1 - Bad Luck

    The city of Aldemar, capital of the human kingdom. The kingdom itself doesn''t really have a name. After all, there''s only one kingdom in the world, so why does it need a name? Just "The Kingdom" is enough, I suppose. It sounds kind of arrogant if you ask me, but it''s not like it changes anything and I don''t really care.


    Three hundred years ago, humans and the wulvari fought some huge war and a lot of people died. It lasted a really long time, too. So long in fact that people don''t even remember what started it. If you ask any of the humans I''m sure they''ll say it was the wulvari''s fault. Not that there''s anyone around here that can say otherwise. I''d like to find out the truth, but I doubt I ever will. It won''t help my current situation any, either. The only reason I know this much is because I read it in a tattered old book I found in a dumpster behind the academy.


    Yeah, I live in the streets, but it''s nothing to be surprised about. I''m a wulvari after all. My name is Fen. Not that impressive of a name, but it''s not bad, I think, considering I made it up myself. I''m the only wulvari in the city as far as I can tell. My earliest memory is waking up in the street wrapped in a dirty cloth with no parents, family or anything of the sort to be found anywhere. Not the slightest clue why I was in a human city, either. It was a miracle I survived those days considering how young I was. I don''t know my birthday, but I couldn''t have been any older than four years old; scampering through alleyways like some kind of criminal. Every day I had to look for anything I could eat from garbage piles or anything else I could find. That torn up, dirty old cloth is what really saved me, I think.


    I wrap that cloth around my head like a hood and let the rest drape down behind me like a cloak. This covers the pointy ears on top of my head and hides that big bushy tail, too. Apart from my ears and tail, I look completely human. Blue eyes, scraggly dark hair down past my chin and I''m happy to say I''ve managed to keep my skin free of scars and things. Even if it is a little pale from hiding in the shadows all the time. I got good reason to hide, though.


    If anyone so much as glimpses my ears or tail they''ll scream "Wulvari! Wulvari!" and here come the guards. I always hear them long before I see them with their clanking armored boots stamping on the cobblestone streets. I have to admit their uniform looks impressive with that big blue tabard with the royal crest across the center and the shiny steel chest plate, gauntlets and boots. They even have these big swords that look strong enough to cleave a monster in two if they tried. But they never use them, or at least I''ve never seen it.


    Why bother when they''ve got magic? Magic was the thing that made my people lose that war so long ago. I''m not really bitter about it. Whining about history isn''t going to save my butt today. But boy, is magic ever a pain. I can usually outrun the guards. It''s the fireballs and lightning strikes and who knows whatever else that I have to worry about. Still, I have to thank whoever trains these guys, because their aim is terrible. I can''t get too cocky, though, because one of them got lucky a few weeks ago and singed my tail. Man, that stings. Why did I have the bad luck to be dumped here?


    I was rubbing a pretty nasty lump I got from some flying rock spell that hit my back one day when I overheard two guys talking about some place called the "Academy". It''s full name is the "Royal Magic Academy" and everybody who''s anybody sends their kids there to learn how to read, write, and a whole bunch of other stuff. But the real draw is, of course, magic. If there was anything I wanted to learn, it was how those guards kept making my life miserable. Maybe I could give them a real surprise when I started tossing that crazy stuff back at them one day. If not that, at least a weakness or something so I could stop just running away all the time.


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    It took me a while, but I found the academy in the north side of town where all the rich people live. It was pretty hard getting there with my tattered old cloth showing that I clearly didn''t belong there. But I made it and quickly started doing the only thing I was good at: digging through the trash. It wasn''t long until I found an old beat up book that some kid tossed out. It wasn''t even all that damaged! Such a waste.


    I was hoping that this thing would tell me what I needed to know about magic, but then I hit my first big problem. I had no idea how to read. It''s really really hard to learn how to read with no one willing to teach you. I came up with the idea to hang around inns and taverns looking for people who were reading and tried to look over their shoulders at the paper. This way I could match the sounds to the letters and maybe teach myself how to read. It didn''t go nearly as well as I had hoped.


    First off, not a lot of the common people know how to read. Well, actually they know how to read well enough to read signs and that''s pretty much all they need, so why bother with anything else? So I had to find people who looked rich enough that they might actually need to know how to read. Then I had to catch them actually doing it... out loud. And those kinds of people really don''t like it when you get close to them and look over their shoulder. Especially not when it''s some grimy street kid who couldn''t bathe even if he wanted to. It took me a very long time (and a lot of painful lumps and magic burns) to finally get good enough to read the front cover. But my bad luck struck again. It was a math book.


    I didn''t give up, though. It had enough words in it that I could continue using it to learn how to read. I taught myself some math on the side and that was loads easier once I finally got reading down. I had nothing better to do so I was reading that thing all day long. I actually started to like learning this stuff. I even learned how to talk better, too. I spent every day sneaking back to that dumpster looking for a new book, with not much luck. I finally found a new one, about a week later. It was the history book, I mentioned earlier, later followed by a math book with much harder math in it. I didn''t really care what it was and just kept reading. I had even forgotten why I had come to that place to begin with.


    A long time went by like this when my luck finally turned around. I had finally found a book about magic. It was called "Basic Spells for the Beginner". Everything around me seemed to just stop at that moment as I stared at the cover. Nothing else mattered because I finally found that one thing that could finally turn my life around. It was grimy and covered in some kind of slimy gross thing that I hope was food at one point, but to me it was the most glorious treasure I had ever seen. But I wasn''t allowed to bask in my moment of victory for very long. Because, once again, my bad luck came back with a vengeance... and it brought friends.


    "Dammit! It''s that wulvari kid, again! Get him!"


    "Aw, crap..."

 Chapter 2 - Fens Wild Ride

    How did they find me? I''ve been hiding out in this area for almost a year now. Sure, they''d find me every once in a while when I went out to find food, but they''ve never found me here before. No, it doesn''t matter. What matters right now is escaping from these losers.


    "Wah!" I yelped as a fireball sailed over my head and hit the wall behind me.


    "He''s trapped in the dumpster! We''ve got him this time!", one of them yelled.


    The guy who tossed the fireball was giving out orders to his buddies. Aren''t you fools supposed to be protecting the peace or something? What are you going to do about the scorch marks on the wall? There''s something kind of sad and pathetic about the fact they''ve been chasing the same kid for six years and never caught him once. Do they let just any chump into the guard corps these days?


    Another fireball blew up nearby, knocking me out of my thoughts. No matter how much I insult them in my head, it''s not going to get me out of here. They''re trying to keep me pinned in here with magic attacks while they keep getting closer. I dared to peek over the edge and noticed the dumpster''s brake lever. They usually hook these things up to a horse and they cart it out of town to empty them out, so there''s wheels on it and everything. Hey... this thing is on a hill, isn''t it?


    "Heh... See you later, losers!", I taunted as I swung out over the side and kicked the brake lever.


    I must''ve kicked it a bit too hard and it bent way out of shape, but the brake was released and that''s all that mattered to me at the moment. I hopped back in, then quickly moved to stick myself between the dumpster and the wall and pushed off as hard as I could.


    One of the quicker thinking guards yelled out, "It''s coming straight at us! Hit the dirt!" as they all dived out of the way. I was a little disappointed that I didn''t hit any of them. Once I was far enough away, I tried to get out, but bad luck struck again. The hill was getting steeper and the road began to curve. I''m heading for a wall!


    "Aaaah!" I screamed as sparks started flying on my (slightly smelly) steel chariot as it screeched it''s away around the corner and started heading straight down Main Street.


    "If I keep going this way, I''ll hit the market!", I realized as the dumpster hit a bump and caught air. I lost my grip and fell backward, landing with a sticky thud in some garbage as I continued to pick up speed. I quickly got back up and looked over the edge as the market came into view.


    "Look out!" I warned as I blasted into the central square, taking out a handcart full of fruit on the way.


    People screaming, fruit flying and splinters from carts and market stalls were all over the place as I smashed into one thing after another.


    "This is the worst idea I ever had!" I thought aloud as I took out a crate full of apples. One of them flew up into the dumpster and I caught it as I plowed through a shop selling meat skewers. I managed to catch one of those too. My favorite!


    "¡­ Or the best idea I ever had!" I said as I started stuffing my face. What? I can''t let it go to waste, right?


    I plowed through a box full of live chickens, feathers flying everywhere, as I rounded the next curve and the city gate came into view. I coughed a few feathers out of my mouth as I looked towards the gate with a grin. If I made it out the gate, I could wait until the dumpster stopped moving, safely get out and sneak back into the city later. I hid my treasure, the magic book, in my pants and tied it to my left leg with a strip of rope I found. It probably came from one of the stalls I smashed.


    Once the dumpster stopped moving, I needed to start running as fast I could because the guards at the gate sure wouldn''t be happy to see me and might chase me as far as the nearby forest. But, I never got to try out that plan. As I looked out towards the gate a single guard calmly stepped right in my path. This guy was different. His tabard was a dark purple, marking him as a member of the royal guard, the elites.


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    He looked straight at me with no fear at all as he raised one hand and began charging a spell. There was nothing I could do about it since I had no way to turn the dumpster. So, I just braced myself as I crashed right into his shield spell. With a sickening metallic crunch, we hit head on and this guy didn''t even so much as flinch. Meanwhile, I flew right over his head and did a face plant right into the street and rolled over about five or six times before finally stopping.


    "Uuugh..." I groaned as I rolled over and looked at the sky. I grunted one more time and struggled to get up as I faced the royal guard as he casually strode over to me.


    "Hello, Fen. We meet again.", he said with a smug grin on his face.


    I craned my neck back to look up at him. He was pretty tall and built like a house. Most humans are weaker than me, but if there''s a human anywhere who could match me in a fist fight, it''d be this guy. With his perfect military-style short-cut hair, green eyes, and perfect white smile, he''s one of those "good-looking" people and he knows it. A noble. Worse, he''s good with magic. Really good.


    "Roland Firth, Captain of the Royal Guard, huh?" I said as I tried to focus and figure out which one of the two of him I was seeing was the real one.


    "I''m honored you''ve managed to remember my name. Still, it seems that wulvari really are as tough as they say. If you were human that fall would''ve split your head open like an overripe melon. I''m even surprised you''re still conscious," he said as he brushed off some dirt that got on his tabard.


    It seems like he''s feeling talkative today. If I can keep him talking maybe I can stall him long enough for the world to stop swaying all over the place and I can make a run for it.


    "So, what''s the great Captain of the Royal Guard doing this far away from the castle?" I asked.


    "Trying to catch you, of course. You''re pretty famous in the guard corps, you know. The wulvari brat no one can catch. This is what? The third time we''ve gotten this close? You''re getting sloppy," he said, still grinning. He must really think he''s won already. The idiot should''ve grabbed me while I was still woozy. I kept up the act of being unable to see straight and staggered on my feet a bit.


    "Do you have any idea how much damage you just caused?" he asked. Heh... this will throw him for a loop.


    "Well, let''s see. Seven stalls, six carts, one storefront counter, a crate of apples and a box of chickens. If we assume the damage is irreparable and must be replaced, the stalls are worth fifty silver each, the carts are forty, the storefront counter looked like it had marble, so I''ll guess a whole gold piece and the boxes are cheap so fifty copper. So far that''s six gold, ninety one silver pieces, not counting merchandise," I said with a grin as I waited for his reaction.


    "¡­ What? W-where did you learn how to do that!? And so fast..." he stammered. Oh, man the look on his face is priceless!


    I took advantage of his surprise to dive under his legs, then quickly scramble up the side of the ruined dumpster, then from there leap up to a nearby rooftop. He was yelling "Stop!" and "Get back here!" as I dashed full speed along the rooftops and out of sight. Seriously, what kind of idiot would actually stop running when you tell them to?


    My next plan of action was to find a nice quiet hidden place where I could finally read my prize, the book "Basic Spells for the Beginner."

 Chapter 3 - Encounter

    After ditching Captain Firth, I made my way towards the slums. I had a suspicion that they had some new way of tracking me, so I came all the way here to make a whole bunch of nonsensical loops and backtracking to lose them. The slums are built like some kind of maze and even I get lost sometimes. Little huts made out of broken boards and tattered sheets are all over the place and many of them are never in the same place twice; always moving around. You might know your way around one day and be completely lost the next. But that''s how we like it.


    People who live here are the rejects of society. Some had the misfortune of being born into this kind of life and others got thrown into it thanks to some screw up or another. I was the former, obviously. Thankfully, the people in this area aren''t afraid of me. I''m just some street rat like the rest of them, so instead of kicking up a fuss, they just ignore me. Others though, can be pretty friendly... if you don''t mind the smell.


    "Heya, Fen! Was that you I saw crashin'' through the market today? Funniest damn thing I''ve seen in years!"


    "Find any good loot today, Fen? I found a nice shirt the other day if you wanna trade. Just don''t mind the blood on it, hehe."


    "Hey, Fen! It''s almost time for Jimmy''s Tavern down on Second Street to dump their food that''s about to go bad. Spread the word for me, will ya?"


    I get stuff like this all the time. Since I''m the strongest and fastest out of anyone here, I can scavenge in places most of these guys would never have the guts to go. My name spread around and soon everybody knew who I was and often would ask me for things. Very few of them actually know I''m a wulvari and the few who do know, don''t care.


    "Sorry guys, I''ve got nothing to trade, today. Right now I''m trying to lose a trail. Can you help me out?" I asked.


    "Sure, we can do that. Hey, Carl! I feel like movin'' today. Let''s switch this place up for a little change o'' pace, huh?" said a rather large guy we call Big Louie. He''s kind of the boss around here and has helped me out plenty of times. If you''re ever in trouble in the slums, you should always go to Big Louie. He''s probably another reason I managed to survive in this place. If it weren''t for him, I would be lying dead in a ditch somewhere.


    At Big Louie''s word, everybody started breaking down their huts and moving around. In just a half hour or so the layout of over half of the slums completely changed. I wish I was the one who came up with this trick, but turns out it was some tradition that they had come up with long ago. Changing all the buildings around not only confuses the city guard, but also messes up a lot of the tracking spells. If someone''s in trouble, we always change. I''ve even moved my own place several times to help someone else out.


    "That should do it. Now go on, kid. You should know this ain''t fool proof, so git goin''," Big Louie told me.


    "Thanks a lot, Big Louie. I''ll promise you my next big find, okay?" I said as I took off.


    "Just don''t get yerself killed, ya crazy brat," he replied as he waved goodbye.


    From there I headed North again, back towards the richer side of town. I figure the city guard would think going to a place like this would be suicidal for someone like me, so it''s the last place they''ll ever look. Still, they found me behind the academy and that''s in this area, so they must finally be wizening up. So instead of going towards the academy area, I headed to the North Eastern residential district. This is where the nobles have their big oversized mansions with massive gardens and stuff. One of them even has a huge orchard! I''ve stolen fruit from that place before.


    I hopped a few fences and scaled a few stone walls here and there. My goal was to find a place that seemed disconnected from everywhere else, someplace I haven''t been yet, and preferably sunny enough to read. After climbing about three walls, I came to a small garden behind some huge mansion. It had a small greenhouse off to the side and a few flower beds surrounding a small stone bench. The bench was shaded by the mansion, so the stone would be nice and cool, but it was also right at the edge of the shadow so the sun could be right there, making it perfect for reading.


    Oh, I wanted to sit there so badly, but I just couldn''t stand to be so obviously out in the open like that. So, I went and sat behind the greenhouse. I pulled out the magic book and started to read. It was a lot harder than I thought it''d be. Stuff about sigils and mana and imaging and whatever else. I figured a sigil must be that pattern of light that appears when someone is about to cast a spell. The one Captain Firth made was huge. Does that mean bigger is better? I shouldn''t make assumptions until I''ve read the whole thing.


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    I was about to get to the part about training to learn your first spell when I heard the mansion door open. I completely froze and focused all my attention in that direction. I heard the sound of someone stepping lightly on the stone pavers leading to that bench. It couldn''t be an adult. The steps weren''t heavy enough. I thought it might be okay to look, so I snuck around the corner of the greenhouse to take a peek.


    There on the bench was a girl about my age. She had long golden blonde hair all the way down her back and was wearing a sky blue dress. I couldn''t see much else about her, because she had her back to me. She was hunched over and reading a book out loud. She wasn''t bad at it, but she wasn''t perfect either. Every once in a while she''d try to sound out a word and it didn''t take her long to figure it out.


    "¡­ and so the heroes went to the... mo- moont... er..." she said, trying to get a word.


    "Mountain," I corrected her.


    "Huh!?" she yelped and quickly turned around.


    Now that I could see her face, she looked rather pretty. Her big green eyes stared at me like I was the most interesting thing in the world.


    Feeling a little uncomfortable to be stared at like that, I coughed and said, "What is it? Is something stuck to my face?"


    "Oh? N-no, no! Nothing like that. I was just surprised that''s all," she said while waving her hands around like she was trying to fan something away.


    "Oh, well, okay then. I should really get going, though. Good luck with your reading!" I said as I turned to hop over the wall.


    "W-wait! Please don''t go!" she cried as I already had my foot on the wall. Is this a human thing? Asking people to wait when they''re obviously not going to?


    "If you''re good at reading can you please help me? My daddy says I need to know how to read good before I go to the academy or people will make fun of me," she begged.


    I sighed and climbed back down. "First of all, it''s ''read well''. And second, you seem to be doing just fine already. I don''t see what the big deal is," I said with a shrug.


    She started fidgeting at this point, looking at the ground and wringing her hands. She seemed to be embarrassed about something and was wondering what to say. I gave her a few seconds to work up the guts to say whatever she had to say, while I took that time to look around and check the surroundings. No one seemed to come to investigate her little yell earlier, so I guess it was okay to stick around a little while longer. But I was already thinking of several escape routes out of this place, just in case.


    She worked up her courage, looked me straight in the eye as she said, "My family takes pride in being the best. So, if I''m not the best at something, I feel like I''ll be letting my daddy down."


    I don''t have parents, so I didn''t really know what she was talking about. Still, I can understand wanting to be approved of and accepted.


    "You must really like your father, huh?" I asked.


    "Hehe, yup! My daddy is the best! Magic and swordsmanship, nobody can beat him. Not even anyone in the royal guard!" she said with a happy look on her face.


    Wait... royal guard?


    "There has been one guy that''s been bothering him lately, though. Some guy named Fen. Do you know who he is?" she asked.


    "Woah, woah, wait a second," I stopped her. "Your last name isn''t... it''s not Firth, is it?"


    "Yup! I''m Milena Firth. How''d you know?" she said with an innocent smile.


    Before I could even completely understand what was just happening, the door to the mansion exploded and flew right off it''s hinges and landed at our feet with a thud. Scared witless, we both looked fearfully at the growling beast standing in the doorway.


    "FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN! GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!"


    "Aw, crap..."

 Chapter 4 - The Chase

    Author''s Notes: A bit shorter one this time. The next one will be a bit longer more action and some character development! Enjoy.


    ______________________


    And so the nice peaceful afternoon quiet was shattered by the hi-pitched earsplitting scream of a terrified little girl.


    ¡­ No, not Milena, that was me. I really am a boy. I was just that scared, okay?


    I was over the wall and dashing full speed before my mind could even catch up. Right behind me, the horrifying beast that used to be Captain Firth came blasting through the wall and into the street right behind me screaming for my blood as still-smoldering bits of stone rained down in all directions.


    "Get back here so I can kill you, ya little runt!" he yelled as he began to charge multiple spells at once.


    I was too scared to even bother with my usual joke about that and just kept running, because Roland sure wasn''t joking. One fireball after another rained down all around me in huge numbers like it was some kind of apocalypse. Smoking craters, smashed statues and massive smoking holes in the nearby walls were left behind me as I sprinted down one of the side streets, screaming the whole way. They started to let up suddenly and I hoped that maybe I was getting away, so I dared to take a look back.


    I immediately regretted it. The next one he was charging was massive. The sigil was easily twice as big as he was! He let that thing loose and there was nothing I could do but just sprint as fast as I could towards some kind of cover.


    "AAAAAAAHHHHH!" I screamed and leapt into the air as the giant fiery ball of death slammed into the ground right behind me with a huge explosion.


    Right when I hit the ground, I could feel my back burning with pain and I realized it wasn''t just pain, I was really on fire!


    "Hot, hot, hot, HOT!" I yelled as I quickly pulled off the sheet I had been using as a cloak.


    That got rid of the fire, but now I had a new problem. My ears and tail were now completely exposed. People took one look at me and the whole "Wulvari! Wulvari!" thing started happening again. They were already running around in a panic with the Captain''s rampage, but now it was total madness! The city guard as well as some of Roland''s subordinates in the royal guard started showing up. They couldn''t decide between trying to stop me, calming the people, or trying to stop their enraged boss.


    "When I catch you, I''ll rip off your tail and use it as a duster!" Roland yelled, completely ignoring the other guards as he kept throwing more spells.


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    They couldn''t get near me without risking getting hit by the fireballs. Trying to stop the Captain looked downright suicidal. So, in the end, all they could do was deal with the bystanders. Fat lot of help those guys were.


    I turned and ran straight towards the East Gate. I could have run to the Main Gate, but the Main Street Market has seen more than enough damage for one day. The East Gate is closer anyway. The guards at the gates looked shocked to see me with my ears and tail exposed, but that surprise was quickly overshadowed when they saw the raging demon raining down fiery destruction in my wake. They didn''t even bother trying to do anything about it and just hid in the guardhouse by the gate. Do your jobs, damn you!


    "Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP!" I yelled as I shot out of the gates with the fires of hell flying right after me.


    He had to start getting tired at some point, but I couldn''t count on it, so I headed straight into the forest. I jumped over roots and leapt over fallen logs and rocks as I weaved my way through the trees to get away. It didn''t seem to be helping much as every obstacle I tried to put in his way was blasted into tiny bits without the slightest hesitation. I ran into a small ravine that looked good to hide in, but an explosion only a few arm lengths away proved me wrong. I dashed deeper into the ravine hoping to find a way out at the other side. I came up to a sheer stone wall and jumped up as high as I could.


    "No!" I yelled as I slipped back down off the rock as I couldn''t get a grip.


    I tried running to the left only to met with another explosion cutting me off. I turned and ran back the other way only to be blocked there, too! Out of options I turned and saw Captain Roland had caught up with me.


    "Hahh... Hahh... I got you now, you little beast..." he gasped, finally out of breath.


    It didn''t do me much good, though. I was just as tired as he was.


    "What are you going to do with me?" I asked.


    He already told me a couple times while chasing me and I really hoped it was just a threat and nothing more. He wouldn''t really kill a little kid... would he? I didn''t get to find out what his answer was as the air was split once again with the sound of a little girl''s scream. Not me this time. The Captain knew that voice.


    "Milena!"

 Chapter 5 - Blood

    Roland didn''t even hesitate as he immediately took off towards the sound of his daughter calling for help. It surprised me to see him switch gears so quickly like that. Most surprising was the look on his face. He had the same look I''ve seen some of the old guys down in the slums have... right when they realized that they were going to die.


    Fear, dread, despair... those were only a few of the emotions I could recognize. Sometimes they were deathly ill, simply couldn''t hold on any longer and they knew it. Some were just so weak from not getting enough food, that even the slightest injury could mean death. I''ve seen it too many times. But Roland wasn''t in a situation that was anything like that. So why did the "Look of Death" appear in his eyes?


    "Hmph... not that it matters to me," I realized.


    With Roland off saving his daughter, I could get away, no worse for wear. I was vaguely curious about what was going on. But if I went to look I''d probably end up right back here again. So, I climbed out of the ravine and started heading back to town. Along the way, I saw just how lucky I was to be alive, already. Roland''s fireballs hadn''t started any forest fire, but the whole path looked like a fire-breathing monster had crashed through. Pulverized rocks and fallen logs turned to ash. Several trees had large chunks missing and were scorched black.


    Whatever the situation was, it seemed it was straight ahead of me. This made sense, since it seemed that Milena had followed us for some reason. It was then that I had to make a choice. I could follow the path and find out what was going on. My other option was to go off the path, skirt around the trouble and just go home.


    "Milena, stay behind me! When you get the chance, I want you to run for help!" I heard him yell.


    Ah, so that''s it. Now I don''t have to be curious anymore; it''s a monster attack. I could still head home right now. If I''m lucky and the monster kills him, that''ll be one less jerk making my life hell. I really couldn''t care less if he died. I''d feel bad for Milena, but it''s not guaranteed that she''d die too.


    "Aargh!" Roland yelled in pain.


    "Daddy!" Milena cried out in fear for her father.


    But the real question is, would I be able to live with myself? Would I be able to go on knowing that I could have done something, but didn''t?


    "Tch... DAMMIT!" I cursed as I charged straight down the path.


    When I arrived I found Roland and Milena pinned with their backs up to a tree with oversized roots trapping them in place. The monster was a giant oversized lizard of some kind; as tall as a horse and twice- maybe three times as long. A plain old lizard like this shouldn''t give a man with Roland''s reputation so much trouble. Then I saw what the problem was. Roland''s right arm and left leg were turning to stone. This monster was a basilisk.


    Basilisk venom has the strange effect of changing the victim''s skin to stone. Once their prey can no longer move, it chomps through the stone with it''s huge fangs to savor the gooey meaty center like some stone covered treat. Usually the victim is still alive at this point and can only watch as they''re eaten alive. A horrible way to go.


    Roland was using his left hand to continue casting spells to keep it away, but he was tired from chasing me here and he''s not as good at using his left than he is with his right. I spotted his sword on the ground behind the basilisk. It must''ve swatted the sword out of his hands somehow then bit his arm. I don''t know how it got his leg, but that didn''t matter.


    Before I could talk myself out of it I sprinted for the sword. I snatched it up and hefted the thing up to my shoulder. The thing was a lot heavier than it looked. Well, that and it was meant to be used by a full grown adult, not some kid like me. With no hesitation, I brought that thing down as hard as I could on it''s tail.


    "SHAAAAAHHHH!!" it hissed in pain as I felt a strong vibration run through my hands and a huge gash was cut into it''s tail. That''s right, the scales on these things are supposed to be as hard as stone, too!


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Before it could whip it''s tail away, I lunged forward after it for another chop and took it''s tail clean off. It was really pissed now as I had interrupted it''s dinner. It turned completely around, ignoring Roland and Milena and turned it''s eyes on me with a loud hiss.


    "Wha? Fen!? What are you doing here?" Roland yelled at me.


    "Saving your ass! What''s it look like!?" I yelled back as I took a swing at the thing''s face only for it bounce off. The scales on it''s face must be harder than the ones on it''s tail.


    "But... why!?" he asked.


    "Can''t we talk about this later!?" I asked as I jumped backwards to dodge a vicious double chomp combo.  "Try to slow it down or something!"


    "I''ll help too!" Milena cried as she shot off an icebolt into it''s unprotected side. It was at that time we heard a strange crack.


    "That''s it! Milena, keep that up! Basilisks are weak to sudden changes in temperature!" Roland told her. It''s got to be some kind of military anti-basilisk technique or something.


    They both started pounding away with alternating fireballs and icebolts. With each combo that landed the cracking sound kept getting louder and louder. The basilisk seemed to be in a lot of pain and was trying desperately to turn around and stop them, but I wouldn''t let it. Every time it tried to turn I slashed it in the face with the sword. I had to swing up to reach it and it was really awkward and tiring. Again and again I''d hack away with the sword, while the vibrations running through my hand were giving me blisters.


    This kept going on for what felt like forever until the blisters on my hands burst open and I felt blood running down my arms. It had to end soon, one way or the other. I swung one more time and I heard the loudest crack yet. Only it wasn''t the basilisk. The sword broke! Half of the blade flew into the air behind me as I stared at the broken lump of steel in my hands, horrified. I quickly came to my senses and dove out of the way as it took one more chomp at me then quickly turned back to Roland and Milena.


    The stone had spread all the way to Roland''s shoulder and on his leg all the way to his hip was covered in stone. He was completely exhausted and the sigils he was making were much smaller than before. Milena was tired too and could barely stand. They both fired one last volley that smacked the basilisk right in the face. With a huge crack, it''s scales split open revealing fleshy pink skin underneath. But it didn''t matter, the basilisk began to rear up for the kill.


    "AAAAHHH!!!" Milena screamed as her father turned and hugged her with his good arm, trying to shield her from their coming doom.


    I don''t know what came over me at that point. Everything in the area seemed to turn red. I felt every muscle in my body tense up all at once and before I knew it, I was already in the air with the broken sword over my head. I heard what had to be some sort of beast howling at the top of it''s lungs as I sailed through the air. I didn''t have time to figure out what it was and oddly, I didn''t even care. Every fiber of my being was focused on that thing''s neck as I stabbed what remained of the blade deep into it''s spine.


    Blood sprayed out of the wound as I latched my arms around it''s neck and I squeezed as hard as I could with strength I didn''t even know I had. It flailed around desperately trying to shake me off, but that only made me squeeze harder. I heard that same beast howl again as I planted my feet on it''s shoulders and pulled. Harder and harder I pulled, putting my legs into it; that beast howling the whole time. Then finally blood sprayed everywhere as I ripped it''s head off!


    The body hit the ground and I bounced off of it, then landed on my back. The head rolled off to the side, it''s dead eyes staring at me; blaming me for it''s death. Every bit of my body burned with pain and exhaustion and strangely... my throat was sore. Right before I blacked out I realized-


    The howling beast was me.

 Bonus: Authors Corner (Updated April 21st)

    ***LATEST UPDATE***


    Well, we''ve reached Chapter 10 and now averaging over 1000 views per chapter. That sounds like as good a milestone as any. I love reading your comments and speculations. If you''re talking about the story and guessing at what might happen next, that means you enjoy it enough to begin imagining such things. Even the guesses that are way off the mark. That means I''m not being too predictable, which in turn means I''m doing my job properly. If you knew exactly what was going to happen next, it''d be boring, right?


    Here''s a sketch of Fen in his new uniform. Yeah, I''m not that great of an illustrator, and it''s pencil art. But I''m too cheap to buy Photoshop so this is probably the best you''ll get out of me.


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


    Hey, everyone! It seems Chapter 5 reached a new personal record for me. Over 200 views within 3 hours of posting! It may not sound all that impressive compared to the more established and popular fictions here on RoyalRoadL.com. But Chapter 1 took 2 whole days to reach that number! The overall rating is also at an all time high of 4.83! (It''s only 3 actual reviews, but I''ll take it, dammit! lol)


    Edit: (April 17th, 2015) Well, well. That record didn''t last long. Chapter 6 broke 200 within just one hour. Holy crap. In other news, the rating has climbed to 4.9. Do you people really like the story that much or are you just inflating my ego for the lulz? :P


    To celebrate, I''m opening this Author''s Corner thread for bonus content. Whenever "Beast Knight" hits a milestone (or when I just get excited on my own, like this time lol) I''ll be updating this first post with the aforementioned extra content.


    I''ll start off with a set of more in-depth character descriptions for each of the 3 important characters introduced so far.


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


    Fen (no last name)


    Age: 10 (-ish?)


    Race: Wulvari


    Gender: Male


    Likes: Reading, Food


    Dislikes: Authority... actually, he just really hates Roland


    Magic Affinity: [none]


    Bio:  Dumped in the human capital somehow around the age of four, Fen spent his whole life so far in the streets. This hard life scraping by on the edge of society has been quickly eating away at any and all childish innocence he otherwise would have had. He uses the incredible strength and speed typical of his race to run circles around the city guard and essentially do as he pleases. He''s often snarky and sarcastic, even in his own thoughts, and has little to no respect for authority. He learned to read mostly on his own by the age of six and likes to spend his time dumpster diving behind the academy for more books. His love for reading has elevated his vocabulary beyond most kids his age, taking his intellect along for the ride. Unfortunately for Roland, Fen often uses this higher IQ and extended vocabulary to make fun of him.


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    Milena Firth


    Age: 10


    Race: Human


    Gender: Female


    Likes: Fluffy things, her father Roland


    Dislikes: Lizards


    Magic Affinity: Ice


    Bio: Milena grew up without a care in the world thanks to the loving support of her father, Roland Firth. She looks up to him and takes his word as law without question. A daddy''s girl, through and through. She worries about him though and as she''s grown, she''s begun to notice the cracks in the picture of a perfect father that Roland is trying to be.


    Roland Firth


    Age: 31


    Race: Human


    Gender: Male


    Likes: Milena, Order


    Dislikes: Wulvari, especially Fen


    Magic Affinity: Fire


    Bio: Roland''s family has produced members of the royal guard many times through multiple generations, many of them receiving the honor of becoming Captain of the Royal Guard. He normally is neat, tidy and orderly and takes his job very seriously, doing everything by the book. But for some reason every time he sees Fen, all of this just goes straight out the window. He is extremely protective of his daughter, Milena; almost irrationally so. He would sacrifice his job as Captain of the Royal Guard and even his status as a noble if he believed it would be in Milena''s best interest.


    The royal guard normally only guard the king and the vicinity around the castle and leave the public order to the city guard. But for some reason Roland has decided to butt in when it comes to Fen. Is there a special reason for that?


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


    Feel free to make comments and speculations with other readers here in this thread. You can also ask me questions, but I won''t be giving away any spoilers. Just about anything else is fair game.

 Chapter 6 - Recollection

    I awoke in a strange room. My mind was hazy and I couldn''t remember how I had gotten there. Then I remembered the fight with the basilisk. Just what had happened to me at the end? My vision had gone red and I lost control of myself. I remembered lots of blood and the basilisk''s head rolling on the ground, glaring at me with it''s dead, soulless eyes. Then I must''ve passed out, I suppose.


    I shook my head and decided to stop thinking about it. It was more important to figure out where I was. The windows were dark and the room was lit by candlelight. Night must have fallen while I was out cold. I was lying on my side, with a blanket over me, on what seemed to be a couch. A very expensive couch. In fact, everything in the room looked nice enough that if I were to sell it, I could eat for a year. I saw expensive chandeliers, a coffee table, a desk, a bookcase filled from top to bottom and several extremely expensive vases with gold detailing... Forget a year, I''d eat well for life!


    I looked at my hands and noticed that they were completely healed. They should still be torn apart from the fight. Did someone use magic to heal me? Why?


    I checked the rest of my body and found that my old rags were gone and replaced with new clothes. They didn''t look all that expensive, but they were leaps and bounds better than what I had before. It seemed that a tailor had cut and hemmed a hole for my tail.


    *Sniff, sniff*, I didn''t even stink anymore! Who the hell gives a bath to someone who''s unconscious!? CREEPY!


    "You awake?" said a voice.


    "AAH!" I yelped and sat up in surprise. I turned around and found Milena sitting right there next to me.


    "How long have you been there!?" I asked.


    "Since the beginning..." she replied like there was absolutely nothing wrong about sitting in the dark next to some unconscious kid she didn''t even know.


    How did I not notice her? Did she really sit there next to me the entire time? Why would she do that? And why...


    "Why are you holding my tail?" I asked.


    "Huh?" she said with a blank look in her eyes.


    "My tail... the thing in your hands- the thing that you''ve been petting like some kind of- AARGH! DON''T DO IT BACKWARDS!" I yelled as I quickly snatched my tail out of her hands and tried to smooth the fur back into place.


    "I''m sorry. But it''s just so fluffy I couldn''t help myself!" she explained. We''ve got a freak here...


    "Let me put it this way. How would you feel if some strange boy you didn''t know suddenly started touching your hair?" I asked.


    She thought about it for a moment then her face quickly turned red and she couldn''t make eye contact anymore.


    Thinking the discussion was over I said, "So that''s how it is. So why don''t you just-"


    Before I could finish she cut me off and quickly asked, "If I let you touch my hair would you let me pet your tail?"


    "WHAT!? No, of course not!" I yelled. Seriously, what''s wrong with her? If this freak show continues I''ll never figure out what''s going on.


    "More importantly, where am I?" I asked.


    "My house," she said. "More specifically, Daddy''s office."


    ...HUH!? None of this made any sense at all. I had her explain what had happened. After Roland chased me out of the garden, she knew something was weird about her father''s behavior. So she chased after him down the street. Roland could barely keep up with me and he''s a full grown adult, as well as a trained soldier. Obviously, Milena couldn''t do that, so she lagged pretty far behind. That didn''t matter much though, as our trail was very easy to follow with all the smoking craters and debris. I found it strange that the guards didn''t stop her from exiting the East Gate, but that could easily be explained if they were still busy cowering in the guardhouse. Useless.


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    She started to follow our trail into the woods when she happened across the basilisk. I knew what happened at that point, so I had her skip ahead.


    Supposedly, after the fight, some guards had come to investigate that howling sound. It seemed that Milena didn''t know that was me making that noise. They found me unconscious and Roland and Milena beat up and exhausted. They had a healer with them so they took care of Roland''s injuries right there. Milena noticed the terrible shape my hands were in and asked them to help. Now here''s the strange part: Roland agreed.


    For the life of me, I couldn''t figure out why Roland would do that. Didn''t he want me dead? Supposedly, he''s the one who ordered for me to be bathed and given new clothes, too. That made even less sense.


    I stared at the ceiling and tried to figure it out. What had changed? Was it just because I helped them fight the basilisk? That was probably part of it, but for some reason I didn''t think it was that simple.


    I was quickly jolted out of my thoughts when I felt Milena petting my tail again.


    "What did I just get done telling you?" I asked as I glared at her.


    She quickly pulled her hands behind her back and looked away, acting like it wasn''t her. There''s only the two of us in here, you know...


    "So where''s Roland now?" I asked.


    "He''s in the next room talking with Uncle," she said as she pointed to the wall on my right.


    I got up from the couch, walked over and stuck my ear to the wall. Milena followed and put her ear to the wall right behind me. I could make out two voices. One was definitely Roland, but the other I didn''t recognize. That must be Milena''s uncle.


    "So, that''s what happened, is it?" said the voice that I was assuming to be her uncle. "Ripped the head off of a basilisk with his bare hands. Very impressive."


    "Yes," Roland replied. It seems they were discussing the same things I was talking with Milena about.


    "I guess now we''ll have to decide what to do with him from here on," the uncle said. "Hmm... he''s here, right? In the next room?"


    "Yes, he should be awake by now. I heard talking coming from over there. Milena must''ve snuck in there and woke him up. But why she would do that, I don''t know," Roland said.


    I had a pretty good idea why as I swatted her hand that had grabbed my tail again.


    "Well, let''s go talk to him then. He should be part of this discussion," the voice said.


    "What!?" Milena yelped after hearing that. "Uncle''s coming here?"


    What''s she so excited about? It''s just her uncle right? I quickly went back to the couch and sat down and Milena did the same. I looked to the door as I heard the sound of them heading through the hallway. Milena was fidgeting expectantly and straightening her dress. The door opened and Roland strode in, followed by three men. Two of them were royal guards in full uniform and they stood on either side of the doorway to make way for the third man.


    He was a big man, but not big like Roland. One look and you knew this guy liked to eat. It wasn''t that he was obese, but I guess when you stand next to Roland, whose stomach was like a brick, I suppose anyone would look fat. They didn''t look anything alike, though, so they couldn''t be brothers. It must be on Milena''s mother''s side. With that thought I started focusing on his hair and received a shock.


    He was wearing a crown! Milena''s uncle is the king!

 Chapter 7 - Discussion

    When Roland walked in with Milena''s uncle, the king, he lit the chandeliers as well as the fireplace with magic. He then turned and glared at me. What did I do now?


    Milena stood up and curtsied, "Good evening, uncle."


    Oh, right... formal stuff.


    I stood up, bowed and said, "Good evening."


    "That''s ''Good evening, Your Majesty!''" Roland yelled at me. Hey, shut it, jerk. This is a first for me.


    "That''s quite alright, Roland," the king said. "He''s just a child after all. He''s had no one to teach him, either. Now how about we all sit down and have a nice chat, hmm?"


    Milena and I sat back down on the couch. Roland and the king took a set of armchairs on the other side of the coffee table. The royal guards that had entered earlier stayed standing at the door. Finally, someone who does their job.


    Now that the king had sat down I got a much better look at him. Like I said before, he was a big man in both body and presence. Just something about him seemed to demand your attention. He was wearing an expensive looking coat made of fur with a red vest and black pants. And of course there was that shining gold crown on his head. He had blonde hair like Milena and had a long beard extending about half a hand''s length from his chin.


    "Well, let''s get started then, shall we?" the king started. "Do you know why you''re here?"


    "Not a clue," I said.


    "Watch it..." Roland growled at me. What? Does my breathing piss you off, too?


    The king waved a hand at him to shut him up and continued, "Well, you should know how people react to seeing you, right?"


    "With my ears and tail visible? Yeah, they freak out. This probably has something to do with that war three hundred years ago. With old stories about trained wulvari warriors attacking viciously (which are probably exaggerated) as their only reference, they get the wrong idea and are afraid of me. This is in spite of the fact that I''m only around ten years old and couldn''t care less about them one way or the other," I said with a shrug.


    The king just kind of sat there and stared at me for a second then quickly turned to Roland and said, "You didn''t tell me he was smart."


    "Yeah... about that. He even rather accurately estimated the damage he caused when he crashed through the market in that dumpster," Roland replied with a hand on his forehead.


    "Maybe I can have him estimate the damage you caused when you chased him through the East Gate," the king said with a scowl.


    "Please don''t remind me..." Roland said with both of his hands now on his face. Ha! Serves you right, jerk. You must''ve done at least five times the damage I did.


    I grinned at him in victory. But the second he saw that and he flared up faster than one of his fireballs.


    He stood up and started yelling, "Don''t you dare smirk at me you little beast! I ought to-"


    "Roland!" the king interrupted, "I know you''re still torn up about Celeste and I miss her, too. But this boy clearly had nothing to do with it! You have no right taking it out on him."


    Celeste? Who''s Celeste? I looked at Milena and she was staring at the floor with a sad expression on her face. Roland was pacing around the room trying to cool off. As for the king he just looked at Roland with pity in his eyes and shook his head. I continued to look at the king and hoped he might tell me. I wasn''t disappointed.


    "It happened eight years ago. Celeste was my younger sister and Milena''s mother," he began. "When she married Roland they moved out to the countryside in one of the western provinces. Not long after, they had Milena. You couldn''t find a happier family. But, there was a problem. You may not know this, but just beyond our western borders lie the lands where wulvari like yourself reside."


    I wasn''t all that surprised. They had to be somewhere, after all. I nodded and urged him to go on.


    "While it''s never gotten as bad as the war, it wasn''t uncommon for large wulvari raiding parties to pop up every few years. There was a fort and a regiment of soldiers in the area to protect them, but I still advised them against living there. But, you see, Celeste actually wanted to improve relations between the kingdom and the wulvari tribes. Roland wanted to support her as much as possible and believed he could protect her if anything went wrong. But, it seemed... that wasn''t the case. After the incident, he was devastated. He came back and trained like a madman, unable to focus on anything else, eventually becoming the Captain of the Royal Guard."


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    That explained quite a lot actually. It explained why he was so overprotective of Milena. He''d already lost his wife to a wulvari, he sure as hell wasn''t going to lose his daughter, too.


    "So, it''s not that you hate me. You just hate wulvari in general," I said.


    "Oh, trust me. You''re plenty infuriating on your own," Roland growled as he sat back down in the chair with a thump. "But... You opened my eyes today. Not all wulvari are mindless beasts. I was certain you were going to leave us to die, but you didn''t. You came and put your life on the line to help Milena and I. And for that, I guess I owe you."


    He looked like he wanted to cough up blood rather than say that last part. Still, I did consider leaving them. I wasn''t going to tell him that, though. I looked at Milena and she seemed far happier about all this than Roland.


    She smiled at me and said, "I''m glad you and Daddy are finally getting along. You saved my life, too. Thank you, Fen."


    For some reason I felt my face heating up and quickly turned away. What the heck was that? I''m not getting sick am I?


    The king grinned and said, "She really does take after her mother. The fact that he''s a wulvari really doesn''t seem to bother her at all."


    "And that''s precisely what scares me," Roland replied.


    The king then snapped us out of that weird fuzzy mood by clapping his hands once. "Well! That''s enough of that. We need to get back to the main point. What to do with Fen," he said.


    "It sounds like you''ve already decided," Roland said. "And something tells me I''m not going to like it."


    "You do know me well," the king replied while stroking his beard. "How about he just stays here?"


    ""...HUH!?"" both Roland and I said at the same time. Finally, we agree on something.


    "Hear me out for a moment," the king said. "Milena doesn''t seem to mind, so there''s no problems there. As far as safety is concerned if he does actually try anything, the only person I can expect to keep up with him is you anyway, Roland. Besides, you won''t actually do anything, will you, Fen?"


    It sounded like he was defending me. But there was just something in his tone and the way he looked at me that said, "If you do anything, you''re dead."


    "R-right, I''ll be a good boy," I said.


    "I still don''t like it," Roland said with his arms crossed.


    "Just think of it as punishment for smashing up my city. Or would you rather I have you pay for all those damages, too?" the king threatened.


    "N-no, this is fine. Thank you for your mercy," Roland gave in. Wow, I''m liking this king more and more by the second.


    "Ah, but we can''t just have him freeloading around," the king said like he just now noticed. "Why not send him to the academy as well?"


    "Really? Fen can go to the academy with me!?" Milena said excitedly.


    I thought it was suspicious, though. "Why send me to the academy?" I asked.


    "You are pretty smart for a child your age, wulvari or not. It''d be a shame to waste that intellect," the king said with grin. There''s something he''s not telling me. But I let it pass. I wanted to learn magic from the beginning and the academy is the best place for that.


    "But what about the other students and the faculty? They''ll surely object," Roland interjected.


    "Let me handle that," the king said with a smile. "It''ll be a couple years until they can go anyway. So, with that this discussion is over. I''m heading back to the castle. I''ve got a lot of paperwork to finish before I get to bed."


    He said ''discussion'' but really all that happened was that he came, decided everything himself, then left! Not that I care, though. Everything he said turned out good for me and bad for Roland. So far this has turned out to be the best day of my life!


    After the king left, Roland had a servant show me where my room was going to be. I get my own room, too!? It kind of sucks that I have to live with Roland, but everything else seems to be going my way!

 Chapter 8 - New Life

    The next day, just before sunrise, I was resting peacefully in my new room when I think I heard someone come in. I didn''t care, though. I had never slept in an actual bed before. It was amazing and I didn''t want to leave.


    "...Get up..." I head a voice say. Nah, I want to sleep some more.


    "Get up," it said again. Just go away already...


    "GET UP!" *THWACK!*


    "OWW!" I yelled in pain. "That hurt!"


    I quickly sat up rubbing a new lump on my head. Roland was standing there with a wooden sword in his hand. That must be what he hit me with. He wasn''t wearing his usual royal guard uniform either. It looked like some kind of leather thing with pads sewn in all over it. The maid was carrying a wooden sword, too. She also had another set of that leather clothing stuff... a much smaller set.


    ¡­ Yeah, that''s not happening.


    I quickly got up, ran to the open window and tried to dive through. But Roland grabbed my collar from behind right as I jumped.


    "Damn your reflexes!" I cursed at him.


    Roland completely ignored my outburst and started dragging me out of the room against my will.


    "I was thinking-," he began.


    "Hope you didn''t hurt yourself," I said. I thought it was funny, but he whacked me on the head with the sword again for that.


    He started back up again like nothing happened and said, "Your swordsmanship when you fought that basilisk was awful."


    "Of course it was, I''m ten!" I complained. That earned me another whack.


    "That''s not an excuse. Monsters in this world don''t care what your age is and neither do I," he said.


    "I don''t care that you don''t care..." I grumbled quietly. He whacked me one more time and forced me into that weird leather suit. After that he shoved me outside into the garden. There was some light, but the sun wasn''t completely up yet and standing in the shadow of the mansion was freezing cold.


    "So, why are we doing this?" I asked.


    "If you''re going to live in my house that means you''re going to be associated with my name. Therefore, I will not have you embarrass me with that horrible swordsmanship," he said with a glare.


    "This coming from the guy who had his sword knocked out of his hands at the beginning of the fight," I said. Yup, another whack. He didn''t try to deny it, though. He tossed the other sword to me and I fumbled to grab it with my freezing cold hands.


    "First, let''s see what you''re capable of. Although, I''m sure it''s worthless," he said, mocking me.


    I wasn''t going to let him make me angry. But I still took a swing at him anyway. I tried to hit him in the gut, but he just knocked the sword away easily and looked at me like I had insulted him somehow.


    "Is that your best? Really? I didn''t think you were this pathetic," he said as he shook his head.


    Okay, that pissed me off. I was going to hit him even if it took me all day. I swung from the left, the right, above, below and everything in between. Again and again, I struck, but every single time, he knocked it away like it was nothing. And that smug grin on his face. He was making a fool out of me. It really pissed me off!


    I started putting my whole body into it and swinging as hard as I could. I wasn''t even thinking anymore; I just wanted to crush him! Stab, chop, slash, chop, I tried everything I could and nothing was working. It was infuriating!


    "HAAAAAAH!" I yelled as I took the biggest swing yet and I heard a huge crack! But I still didn''t hit him. All I did was break my sword. His didn''t even look all that damaged!


    He started talking but I didn''t listen to what he was about to say. I jumped right into him and slammed my fist into his gut. He went flying backwards a bit and landed flat on his back. His sword flew into the air, then stabbed into the ground next to him.


    "Just because my sword broke doesn''t mean the fight is over!" I yelled at him.


    "Okay, fine! I don''t need a sword to beat you!" he yelled back as he stood up and charged.


    "Bring it on, old man!" I challenged as I ran up to him and we flew into fist fight.


    "Hey Daddy! Fen! Breakfast is ready and-" Milena called but stopped short when she saw us fighting.


    Both of us weren''t paying attention at all and were completely focused on beating the crap out of each other.


    "U-um... Daddy? Fen? Guys?" she called again trying to get our attention. Still no luck.


    I rushed underneath his arms and punched him in the chin with a jumping uppercut. He responded by gripping both his hands together and slamming them down on my head! As soon as I regained my balance, I kicked him in the shin. So he punched me in the face. There were kicks, punches, low blows...  I even bit him at one point. It was an all out brawl.


    Milena got fed up at this point and yelled, "WILL YOU TWO IDIOTS STOP IT!?"


    Right at that moment, our whole world turned white. Or at least it looked that way. Both Roland and I were completely frozen in place. If you could freeze an explosion solid, that''s probably what it would look like.


    "Hmph... boys are stupid. I thought you were better than that, Daddy. You too, Fen," she said with a huff. Then she started walking off!


    "W-w-w-wait! Milena! S-s-sweetie? C-c-come on, g-g-get us out of here!" Roland called after her.


    I couldn''t say anything because my mouth was still chomped down on his leg. Roland could get us out himself, but he had to use a really weak spell in order to keep from burning us both. It took a while, but we eventually got out. After we managed to get ourselves thawed out, we went inside and had breakfast.


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    It was really quiet and no one talked. Roland seemed really embarrassed and Milena was still mad at him. I didn''t think I did anything wrong, though. So, I just shoveled the food down without a word.


    After breakfast, Roland went off to work. But just as I thought of it, I realized I had no idea what the Captain of the Royal Guard actually does. As far as I knew all he really did was chase me around all day. With me under house arrest, what''ll he do now? I also started to wonder what the guys back in the slums were doing.


    Milena broke me out of my thoughts and brought me to the living room. She opened a box on the dresser and took out a really small stone. It was round and crystal clear. I held it up to my eye and tried to look through it, but was surprised to find out that I couldn''t. It was really weird.


    "What''s this thing?" I asked.


    "It''s a mana stone. Normally you''d use mana manipulation to store extra mana in it for emergencies," she said. "But tiny ones like this can''t store much, so we use it for something else."


    I was pretty interested when she said it was a mana stone. Is she going to teach me something about magic?


    "So... what do you use it for then?" I asked.


    "You can use it to find out what your affinity is. Small ones like this get filled up really quickly. When you try to keep filling it when it''s already full, it will overflow and start glowing and letting off energy related to your affinity. Daddy''s is fire and mine..." she said, hesitating at the last part.


    I was polite and let her finish when she was ready.


    "Mine is ice, just like my mother. I was two when she died, so I don''t know much about her. I can''t even remember her face. But... but having the same affinity as my mother helps me keep a small part of her with me all the time," she said with a smile. But it was one of those fake smiles that people make when they''re trying to hide that they''re hurting inside. I hate those kinds of smiles.


    I didn''t know what I could say to her. So I just said whatever popped into my head at the moment.


    "I have no idea who my parents were," I started. "I was just dumped here in this city when I was somewhere around four years old. I can''t remember anything before that. So, I can''t say that I know what you''re feeling when you say you''ve forgotten your mother. But I do know what it''s like knowing that there''s someone who should be there, but isn''t."


    There''s that fuzzy feeling again. Seriously, what is that? But what I said seemed to help because she gave a real smile this time.


    "Thanks, Fen," she said.


    "I didn''t really do anything, though," I replied while confused.


    She giggled at that, even though I have no idea what''s so funny. Girls are confusing.


    "Well, anyway, I used this to figure out my affinity. Just keep using it to practice mana manipulation until you can manage to make it glow. After that, Daddy can teach you some basic spells. But since his affinity and mine don''t match, he couldn''t teach me anything advanced," she explained.


    "So if it''s not fire, then I''ll have to wait until we go to the academy to learn the big stuff, right?" I asked.


    "That''s right!" she answered. "Although there are some spells you can use where it doesn''t matter what affinity you are. Like shield spells. So we can learn those just fine. But right now, you just need to learn mana manipulation, so practice, practice, practice," she said.


    "How long did it take you to make it glow?" I asked.


    "About three months," she replied.


    Ugh... this is going to suck. But that''s what my first day was like. This became the pattern I would follow for the next two years. Early in the morning I''d have sword practice with Roland. Then breakfast, followed by magic practice with Milena. I say it was with her, but it was actually just me staring at that rock, trying to make it glow. Meanwhile, all she did was grab my tail every time I wasn''t paying attention to her. Wait a sec... wasn''t she supposed to be practicing her reading? Eventually, I gave up trying to stop her and ignored her so I could focus on the stone.


    Three months went by and I still couldn''t make that thing glow. I was getting better with swords. (Not that Roland would ever admit it). But I just wasn''t making progress with magic. Milena reassured me saying that she was an exception with the three month thing. Most kids take much longer than that. So I kept at it. It wasn''t much longer after that when Roland totally ruined my day with one little tidbit of information.


    "There''s no guarantee that wulvari even can use magic in the first place, you know," he said. I punched him in the face immediately after that and it wasn''t long until we were stuck in a large ice crystal again.


    I''m not going to give up just because of something he said. It''s just because no wulvari has done it before, that''s all! I''m sure of it! I kept at it every single day after that. Every moment I was awake I was concentrating on that thing whenever I could. I even took it to bed with me. I tried everything.


    Time flew by and eventually it was time for Milena and I to go to the academy. Great. Not only am I the first wulvari to attend the academy. I''m also the first kid to go who has no idea what his affinity is... If I have one at all.

 Chapter 9 - Practical Exam

    So the day has finally come. It was time for our first day at the Royal Magic Academy. As Milena and I got closer and closer to the front gates we saw ever increasing numbers of fellow students arriving. Every one of them wore the school uniform and Milena and I were no exception.


    The primary color was white and depending on your rank, your uniform would have a different secondary color. The rank one students had blue, rank two had red, followed by green for the third rank. Fourth rank and up they shifted to metallic colors; bronze, silver, then gold.


    Now I say "rank" because the school worked entirely on a merit system. This is sort of a remnant of the academy being essentially a military installation to train new magic-wielding soldiers for the war long ago. Normally you''d go up one rank per year, but there were exceptions. You could show up on your first day and immediately get promoted to a higher rank if you were good enough. Unfortunately, there were also cases of students going there for years and never getting a single promotion. Most of those would quickly drop out rather than deal with the soul-crushing shame.


    Since we haven''t done anything yet, our color was blue. Milena looked pretty good in her uniform with a blue skirt and vest worn over a white blouse. There was also a white jacket with a blue stripe going down each sleeve. She brought it all together with a blue hair-band and white ribbons. What I was wearing was a little different, even when you factor in the fact that I''m a boy.


    When I saw the uniform and the accompanying note I found the king''s "solution" to fall pretty short of my expectations. Apparently the idea was simply to hide the fact that I''m a wulvari by hiding my ears and tail. Pretty much the same thing I had done from the start with my old sheet.


    I was honestly impressed with the pants, they were tailored in such a way that if I were to stuff my tail in a pant leg, somehow it wouldn''t look awkward. I had no idea if it was the tailor''s incredible skill or magic was involved in some way, but it was impressive nonetheless. The blue vest and white jacket was similar to Milena''s with the stripe down the side, except designed for a boy. But it was the part to hide my ears that I didn''t like.


    "Wh-what the hell is this supposed to be?" I had said when I saw it.


    I quickly grabbed the note and skimmed through all the formal crap to find the part I really cared about. Apparently, the king had suggested to the school that while uniforms gave the students a feeling of togetherness and conformity, they shouldn''t completely crush individuality. So he had the uniform changed to allow an option to wear a hat for boys or hair ornaments for the girls. What exactly was worn was up to the individual student as long as it followed the school color code.


    It was obvious that the general idea was to use a hat to hide my ears. It was made of a soft cloth material that was blue on one side and white on the other. Basically all they had done was roll the cloth until it formed a cap shape. So it was a soft blue cap with a large, rolled up white cuff.


    Was it comfortable on my ears? Well, yeah. Could I still hear? Yes... But the material was so soft that on either end of the cap my ears made these two points stick up out of the cloth! So not only did it fail it''s original purpose, it made my ears stand out more! I miss that old sheet.


    As we walked through the school gate I kept messing with it, trying to make those points seems less visible, even if a little bit.


    "Stop messing with it," Milena scolded. "It looks fine. No one is going to notice."


    "Well, even with the hat, what about this strange hairstyle?" I asked.


    Since I wasn''t human of course I wouldn''t have a set of round human ears on the sides of my head. I mean four ears... wouldn''t that be ridiculous? That meant that if they cut my hair short, then it would reveal that I don''t have ears in that spot and I could be exposed that way, too. So my hair had to be kept long and Milena had flared it out a bit to give it a more wild look. I had no idea what the point of that part was and I still wasn''t convinced it looked good on me. I had a sneaking suspicion that it was really just another incident with her obsession over everything fluffy.


    "Do you have a problem I with the hairstyle I came up with for you out of the goodness of my heart?" she asked while being a little overdramatic.


    She''s gotten a bit more assertive over the past couple years. Once she finally realized that her father was just like everybody else she became a bit less of a daddy''s girl and more of her own person. She didn''t practice swordsmanship like I did and Roland didn''t force her to change her mind. Instead she focused on practicing magic on her own. She''s gotten quite good at it and I was certain that she might jump to the second rank, or maybe even third just from that alone.


    I waved off her accusation and focused on what was planned for the first day here at the academy. Today there would be a special entrance exam to see what your abilities were and assign you to the appropriate class schedule. For the stuff you could write on paper like math or history, that was all done before we came here with papers that were delivered to the mansion about a week earlier. All that was left was the practical portion of the exam.


    "You''re worried about the practical, huh?" she asked when she noticed how quiet I was being.


    "I''d be lying if I said I wasn''t," I replied. "But I can only do the best I can with what I''ve got."


    It wasn''t completely hopeless. I did have the sword skills that Roland taught me. In the first year he taught me the basics, like keeping a proper distance from your opponent, attacking and parrying properly, etc. In the second year he moved on to techniques, combos, special ways to attack, reading your opponent and more. As much of a jerk as he is, I have to admit, he''s a good teacher. So, I''m actually thankful he taught me. If I don''t have a breakthrough with magic in the next few minutes, I may end up having to rely entirely on those sword skills.


    My problem was the most basic of basics in magic: mana manipulation. Just like it sounds, it''s the ability to use your force of will to move, alter, and well... manipulate mana. Even after over three hundred years, mana still isn''t completely understood. The current theory is that mana is the energy within all living things. By that theory, I should definitely have mana. The trouble is, I just haven''t figured out how to use it, yet.


    In order to make up for this, I decided to read about magic theory and techniques in every single book I could find in Roland''s collection. I memorized the sigil patterns for over a hundred spells over many different affinities. That way, once I finally had my breakthrough, I could go straight to casting spells. Then, even if I do terrible at the magic portion in the test today, I could catch up with Milena quickly. In the meantime I had that mana stone put on a pendant that I now wear around my neck so I can keep trying at any time.


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    The practical tests were separated by gender. Boys went to one side of the practice field, while the girls went to the other. I waved goodbye to Milena as she left with the other girls.


    When I turned to join the boys, I noticed that I seemed to be getting a lot of stares. I was sure it was about my strange cap, but to my surprise, it seemed that it wasn''t really anything about me that was so interesting.


    "Where did that weirdo get to meet a pretty girl like that?"


    "Lucky bastard, I hope he dies."


    "I want to be the one to kill him."


    Having this much hate pointed at me didn''t bother me much, though. I spent years with the city guard slinging spells at me. A bunch of jealous brats like these guys seem laughable in comparison. So I just ignored them and brought out the mana stone to practice with while I waited for my turn.


    The practical test was broken into a couple different types to choose from. For those who were less confident with their magic, they could simply shoot spells at a target dummy. Looking across the field, it seemed most of the girls were doing that. Although, I think it was because they''d rather not hurt anyone. Because the alternative was dueling. The vast majority of boys wanted this option and I was no exception.


    Obviously it wasn''t because I was confident in magic. Far from it. If I tried the target dummy, I knew I was screwed no matter what. But in the duel format, I could probably blunder my way through somehow. I focused on the stone again, but as usual, I didn''t get anything.


    It was a few minutes in when I heard a commotion coming from the girl''s side, so I turned to take a look and found Milena had chosen the duel format. I felt sorry for her opponent, because it was less than a second after the teacher said "Begin!" that it was all over. Right there at the other end of the small dueling arena was that ever so familiar frozen explosion. I shivered unconsciously and silently wished her opponent a speedy recovery.


    I then headed to the dueling arena after my name was called.


    "Fen? Just... Fen? No last name?"


    "A commoner? Are you kidding me!? How the hell did he get in here?"


    "A commoner and a cute girl like that... Now I really hope he dies."


    I tried to ignore it, but it was really starting to piss me off. Their worthless comments and threats were just distracting and something I really didn''t need right now. I didn''t even know why they liked Milena so much. If they knew the truth about that ''fluffiness addict'', they''d shut up immediately. Piling on top of my frustration, my mana stone still wouldn''t glow.


    I grabbed a wooden sword off of the rack behind me then stood in the circle. I felt the weight of it and realized that it had an iron core in it. In magic duels like this a simple wooden sword wouldn''t be able to last. But using an actual sword would be overkill, so a sword like this is the compromise.


    The rules were pretty simple. We''d fight until one of us is knocked out, pushed from the ring, or admits defeat. No time limit and pretty much anything goes. There''s healers available, but deliberately trying to kill your opponent will not only disqualify you, but is also grounds for expulsion.


    My opponent was apparently some bigshot noble from the eastern provinces. No sooner did the teacher say "Begin!" did he immediately start spouting off about how great he was and "offered" to "allow" me to concede to him. I didn''t even bother listening to his stupid self-flattering introduction and charged forward with my sword at the ready.


    "Wha-! Listen when someone talks to you!" he yelled as he ducked out of the way of my attack and dashed back to where I had been standing before. Damn. I wanted to end this quick. If I took him out in one strike, people would be talking about that instead of the fact that I hadn''t used magic. But that''s what I get for underestimating the annoying little worm''s ability to wriggle away.


    I dashed back to his position with my full speed this time, but my quick win was denied again when he cast a spell. I  recognized the sigil from the books I had read before.


    "It''s Stone Wall!" I realized. So the worm is an earth affinity, how fitting.


    I quickly stopped my dash short and used a piercing stab technique to punch straight through the wall that appeared.


    "Aah! How is he- What!?" the slippery little bastard stammered as I kept stabbing through the wall again and again trying to hit him. But the wall slowed down my stabs enough for him to duck and dodge out of the way over and over again.


    I had punched it full of holes when I finally got sick of it and simply smashed it to bits. To my surprise, he wasn''t there. I heard a spell activation coming from behind and turned. I took one look at the sigil and realized I knew this one, too.


    "Rock Shards!" I said on reflex and took a defensive stance.


    Sharp bits of rock came rapidly flying out of the sigil one after another. I tried to dodge as many as I could, then swatted the rest out of the air with my sword. So annoying. This is taking too damn long!


    My frustration was reaching a breaking point and my heart was beating faster and faster. I hadn''t felt this hyped up since I fought the basilisk. The fact that this worm was using stone was an odd coincidence, too and that only made it worse.


    He then slammed his hand on the ground and activated a really big sigil this time. Just like before I knew what it was. This was a more advanced earth spell, Stalagmite!


    Not only were these giant spears of rock shooting up out of the ground to attack me, they were preventing me from reaching him, too! I mercilessly smashed one after another with my sword.  I lost track after about 10 of the blasted things. I could feeling myself losing it. Not the fight, but my grip on my sanity. I''d never been this frustrated before.


    My vision turned red once again and I felt that howl rising from deep in my gut. I remembered what happened last time I felt like that and inwardly began to panic.


    No! If I lose control here, I''ll blow everything! I''ll-


    It was at that moment that I heard a high-pitched screeching sound coming from just below my chin. I looked down and saw the mana stone was finally glowing! It was so bright I could barely look at it! Wait, what color is it!? My vision is still red, I can''t tell! And what the hell is that screeching noise?


    Now that I was focusing on it, it got brighter and brighter as the sound kept getting louder until there was a bright flash and it exploded!


    "Match. Ring out," the teacher said.


    "What?" I replied while dazed and blinded.


    "You stepped out of the ring," he explained. "You lost."


    About a few minutes later I was in the teacher''s office getting a reprimand for swearing loud enough to be heard across campus.

 Chapter 10 - Research

    After getting told off by the teacher I was released to do as I please. For the first day, new students like myself were encouraged to explore the academy and get used to the place. This also gave the teachers time to grade the results and assign us to specific classes.


    I wasn''t concerned about any of this, though. All I could think about was what had happened at the end of the practical exam. That weird feeling happened again, just like what had happened with the basilisk two years ago. But before it could completely take effect, the mana stone not only filled and began to glow, but it overcharged to the point that it blew up in my face.


    Blinded and surprised, I must''ve blundered out of the ring like an idiot. But why did it happen? Why now after two whole years? And why did the mana stone fill up even when I wasn''t focusing on it? When I did focus on it, it exploded. I had too many questions and not enough answers.


    Thankfully, I was in a place that was full of answers, the Royal Magic Academy. Milena was nowhere to be found, but that was fine. I didn''t feel like facing her right now with my dismal performance at the practical anyway. So I set off alone to the library.


    I didn''t take me long to find it. Right behind a pair of giant double doors was a massive room filled with books. They were everywhere. They were on tables, in bookshelves and on the walls all the way up to the ceiling high above. The answer I needed had to be here.


    "Looking for something?" someone asked.


    "Huh?" I replied stupidly.


    There was a girl here. One quick look at her uniform told me she was an upperclassman. The color was bronze, so she was in the fourth rank. That also meant that she was probably three years older than me. She had her brown hair braided all the way down her back where it stopped just above her skirt. She also had a pair of large round glasses sitting on her slightly freckled nose. She was about a head taller than me, too. But none of that was the most noticeable thing about her.


    To put it lightly she was... erm... well developed. Oh, who am I kidding, these things were huge! So much so that she''d be a liability in battle. Not because they hindered her in any way, but that any men on her side would be too busy staring at her chest than looking at the enemy. In short, those boobs were lethal.


    "Uh, I asked if you were looking for something?" she asked again.


    "Oh, right, right... I''m looking for a book about wulvari," I said.


    "Wulvari? Strange subject... That would be over here, I think," she mumbled as she led me over to the bookcases. "It''s this bookcase here."


    "This whole bookcase?" I asked.


    "Yup, the whooooole bookcase," she said with a knowing smile.


    Why can''t anything I want ever be easy? With no other choice, I grabbed the first few books off of the shelf and started going through them one by one.


    "If you need anything else, please come and find me. My name is Marie," she said.


    "Oh, right. Thank you, Marie. My name is Fen," I replied.


    And so I sat down and began the tedious process of going through each and every book in that bookshelf. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those books had to do with the Great Wulvari War and very little about wulvari themselves. What I was searching for was anything about that strange condition that came over me during the practical exam and when I fought that basilisk. There''s no way that they would''ve fought for so long without ever noticing something like that.


    I had gone through the entirety of the first row of books when the school clock tower rang out signaling the end of classes for the day. I was disappointed that I hadn''t found anything yet, but it''s not like there was no hope. I still had five more shelves to go.


    On the way back to the school gate, I found Milena and we walked home together. I was pretty sure I heard several boys cursing under their breath at me, but I ignored it. It wasn''t long until I realized that there was an awkward silence going on.


    "Something wrong?" I asked her.


    "What? Oh, no, nothing''s wrong. I was just worried that you''d be in a bad mood because you lost," she said. "So, I thought you might want to be left alone. I couldn''t find you at all after that, too."


    "Oh, don''t worry about it. I was just in the library," I replied. "I''m not the type to sulk."


    "Oh, well... then that''s good!" she said with a smile on her face. "Then I guess I can tell you my good news?"


    "You got promoted immediately, didn''t you?" I guessed.


    She smiled even brighter and said, "Yeah, that''s right! I''ll have to change my uniform to red tomorrow. Daddy will be proud."


    "Yeah, well, I''m certain I''m still stuck at rank one. So it''s still blue for me," I replied.


    Once we were home, Milena immediately told her father about her achievement. He was pretty happy until he asked about my results. I won myself a whack on the head for stumbling out of the ring. But on the other hand he seemed pleased with the fact that I managed to fend off three spell attacks with just my sword. In the end it resulted in us having a dinner that was a bit more lavish than normal.


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    The next day we headed back to school. We received our class assignments and split up once again. It was inevitable since we were now in different ranks, but it wasn''t like I never saw her. The classes were set up based entirely on each student''s own individual ability, so it wasn''t odd to see students from many different ranks in one class. For example, my history class had fifteen students wearing blue, six red, and 1 green.


    It seemed that Milena and I managed to luck out and get a math class together. But that was the last class of the day and we wouldn''t see each other until then. We could''ve also met during the lunch break, but I had other plans.


    "Back again today, Fen?" Marie greeted me.


    "Yup," I replied, then immediately headed over to that same bookcase and got to work.


    It was long and tedious, but I didn''t have any other choice. I only had lunch break to work with instead of the hours and hours that I had on the first day, too. Having less time each day was going to make this much harder. By the end of the fourth day, I still hadn''t found anything. Thankfully, Marie offered to help and we both started looking through the books together. Without her help, it''d take me forever to go through them all. I had to be really careful what I told her, though. As far as she knew this was a project for my history class. But after a week had gone by and our eighth day of searching, we had a breakthrough.


    "Is this what you''re looking for?" she asked as she pointed to a page in the book she was reading.


    "Well, let''s see..." I said as I took the book from her.


    It was account of a battle that occurred in the northern mountains. The kingdom''s soldiers were locked in a heated battle in a forested area covered with fresh snow. They were tasked with taking out a group of wulvari that had fled to that area in retaliation for destroying a small fort to the south. They had gotten one of the wulvari cornered when something strange occurred. It wouldn''t be a surprise for someone to fight back harder once they knew they were going to die. But this took it to an extreme.


    This particular wulvari seemed to go completely berserk and fought entirely on instinct. Further, his strength, speed, and reaction time all increased dramatically. For a race where these traits were already very good, this power boost was incredible. This wulvari managed to kill all the human soldiers but one. After his report was turned in, this phenomena was called the "Frenzy".


    The humans immediately went out to research all they could about this "Frenzy" but they couldn''t get much. Thanks to humans discovering magic, most wulvari were usually killed before they could be put into a frenzy state. All they could get was that when a wulvari is put under a significant amount of stress, they would go into a frenzy.


    "Thanks, Marie. This is what I was looking for," I said closing the book and putting it back on the shelf.


    "Well, that''s good. I was happy to help," she said with a smile.


    I waved goodbye to her and headed back to class while doing my absolute best trying to hide how excited I was. It was really hard to focus in class, but I somehow got through it. By the time I got home, I had come up with a plan.


    That book had told me two important things. First, I wasn''t imagining it. Something really happened to me during that fight and it''s happened to other wulvari before. Second, I now know what triggers it. And that was stress. Getting angry, frustrated or too excited; that sort of thing. The name "Frenzy" seemed kind of uninspired, but what it''s called doesn''t really matter. I can call it whatever I want later. After putting everything I knew together I realized I had to test it.


    The theory went like this. During the fight with the basilisk and during the practical, I had reached the conditions to go into a frenzy. But the effects were more than just what that book had stated. The evidence of that was the exploding mana stone. My theory was that wulvari normally can''t tap into their internal mana, but when under periods of high stress, it finally breaks free and bursts outward in massive quantities, resulting in the power boost. My plan was, if I could somehow control the frenzy, I could then have access to my mana, and finally be able to use magic.


    The real trick though, was getting into a frenzy in the first place. It never occurred when I was training with Roland. Probably because I never felt that there would be anything bad happening if I lost. I needed to get myself into trouble... Big trouble.


    So, that night, I changed into my normal clothes, took a dark sheet from the linen closet and one of Roland''s spare swords. Then I jumped out of the window to my room, down to the grass below.


    I was going monster hunting.

 Chapter 11 - Hunting for Trouble

    I had forgotten what it was like running from shadow to shadow in the middle of the night. It had been over two years since I had last wore a sheet on my head like a cloak and went wherever I pleased. I had no reason to do it since moving in with Roland and Milena. There were several annoyances involved with staying with them, but I had a steady supply of food and a place to sleep. Both of which I had to search for every night and day before then.


    But nostalgia would have to wait. I shook my head and tried to focus on the plan. I needed to find a way out of the city without being noticed, find a monster, get into a fight, unlock the secrets of this "frenzy" then return without anyone knowing I was gone.


    ¡­


    Okay, so my plan sucked. But I didn''t really have any other options, so I went through with it anyway. I headed for the East Gate and turned down a side street just before arriving. There, I would scale the wall about 3 stories up, pull myself up on top of the wall, then quickly get back down the other side. I had to be quick because there were guards stationed up on top of the wall, pacing one way or another on their rounds.


    Thankfully, they were pretty easy to spot with their torches flickering brightly in the night, so I slipped over the wall with no issues. Once I was out of the city I headed straight into the forest, looking for trouble. Unfortunately, trouble wasn''t so easily found.


    I first came across a boar. It was just a simple boar you could find anywhere and it ran off the moment it saw me. Next was a rabbit, then a deer. Nearly everything I came across wasn''t hostile and anything that was capable of putting up a fight, like the boar, always preferred to run off. Simple animals weren''t what I was looking for anyway. I needed a monster.


    I searched all night long and the most dangerous thing I could find was a rat that was bigger than most dogs. The fight was quick and disappointing. Just one swing of the sword and it was already dead. It seemed the plan was a complete failure. At least it was for this night. I''ve come too far to quit now.


    Every night that I thought I could get away with it, I would head out on another hunt. But, night after night, I''d return no better off than when I had left. I''d get into a couple fights here and there, but nothing was strong enough to build up that necessary stress.


    It was exhausting to go on hunts at night and still attend school the next day. I was dead tired and had trouble staying awake in class. To deal with that I''d head to the library to take short naps during lunch break. Thankfully, Marie didn''t seem to mind.


    But something changed on the fifteenth hunt. I was about to scale the wall when I heard the sound of someone''s shoes scraping on the street not far from where I was climbing. Someone was obviously following me and doing a very poor job of it. I turned to look and at first, I didn''t see anyone there. But there was an extra shadow that shouldn''t have been there near an inn across the street from me.


    "So, you think you can follow me?" I mumbled under my breath. "Well, let''s see how far you go."


    I slipped from one shadow to the next and then immediately started scaling the wall. As quickly as I could, I had gone up, over and back down again. Now on the other side of the wall, I stayed near it and looked up, waiting for whomever it was to appear on top of the wall in plain view.


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    Unfortunately, they must''ve caught on to my little trick, because after over twenty minutes of waiting, nothing happened. Either that or they couldn''t scale the wall in the first place or they had simply given up. In any case, they were wasting my hunting time.


    I turned and headed into the woods once more. But, as usual, there still wasn''t anything dangerous enough to produce the results I needed. There was a giant boar this time. The thing was taller than I was. But just like the small one I had seen before, it simply left once it had seen me. Once again, I returned with nothing to show for my work.


    The next night, it seemed that my new "friend" had found me again. And earlier this time; long before reaching the East Gate.


    "It looks like someone doesn''t know when to quit," I thought aloud.


    This time I led them into the slums. I didn''t need to bother Big Louie this time, though. It seemed that whoever it was had lost track of me right when I entered the area. This stalker wasn''t very good at their job.


    I was able to complete my hunt this time and managed to kill a couple kobolds. This was a bit more challenging, but still not enough for what I was looking for.


    The next night, once again, I was being followed. You''d think they''d give up after failing so many times. It was really starting to annoy me. I didn''t have time to play tag with this weirdo. Every second I waste trying to lose them, is a second I could have been out hunting.


    I decided I was going to confront whomever it was and give them a sound beating. But I needed a good place to do it. Earlier, during the day, I had moved a dumpster near the wall where I normally climb up and over. This would make it much easier to climb over. Even a human could do it without much effort this way.


    Of course, this wasn''t for me, but for whoever was trying to follow me. I had slowed down my running to reach this place to make absolutely sure that they''d see the dumpster as I climbed up. I wanted them to get over the wall this time. So, up and over I went, then waited.


    "Hmm... guess nobody''s really that stupid," I realized.


    It was way too obvious. I mean a dumpster that had never been anywhere near there before, suddenly being there and conveniently making it much easier to follow me? What kind of person would fall for that?


    I gave up on waiting and headed off into the woods to hunt again. But thankfully, I think I may have finally found something.


    I had come across a half eaten carcass of some sort. Most of the meat had been chewed off leaving gleaming white bones sticking up into the night air. It wasn''t just one, either. By following my nose, I kept finding one carcass after another. I counted up to four of them and all of them were fresh kills. Whatever this thing was, it was big and it ate way too much.


    It''s trail sort of meandered around with no real direction. It would weave this way and that as if it didn''t really have any sort of destination in mind. It was more like it was just constantly searching for food and not letting a single tiny part of the forest escape it''s notice. Still, with it''s slow wandering, I should find it soon.


    No sooner had I thought that, I heard a roar in the distance followed by the whistling sound of what I thought were wind spells.


    It seems the creature found my stalker first.

 Chapter 12 - Power

    I quickly scrambled my way towards the sounds of roaring and whistling blasts of wind. Judging by the sound, it seemed they were fighting on the move. The wind user running ahead of it, while the creature continued to chase it.


    "Damn, they''re heading for the city!" I realized.


    This was bad for me. I wanted to fight this thing so I could unlock the strange power of my wulvari heritage. If they get to the city, then the city guard might get involved and they''ll take my prey from me.


    I had no obligation to help the idiot that had been following me. Heck, I hoped they''d get injured at least. But my only option was to cut the creature off from the chase and get it to focus on me instead. Then I could lure it back into the woods where I can deal with it in peace.


    The only uncertain part of the plan was whether the stalker would run or stay. I honestly hoped they''d run off. I didn''t want them interfering in my fight.


    I soon came to an opening in the trees. It was a small meadow in the middle of the forest. Out in the center I saw a giant furry thing barreling after a human shaped shadow. Like me, the shadowy person also wore a cloak and I couldn''t make out any distinct features.


    I sprinted into the meadow at full speed. Right before I arrived, the creature swiped a massive paw at the person, clipping them in the shoulder. To their credit, they didn''t cry out or scream... or they simply passed out from pain instantaneously, I had no idea.


    I lunged forward and stabbed the thing in it''s massive fuzzy thigh, then quickly jumped back before it could retaliate. Roaring in pain, it turned back to me.


    Now that I could see it, I could match it''s appearance with what I had learned in class. This thing was a red furred dire bear. Just like normal bears they are normally reclusive and fiercely territorial. The main difference was it''s size.


    If three full grown human men were to stand on top of each other''s shoulders, these things were still taller when standing on their hind legs. They''re already dangerous enough, but during the Fall they become even more aggressive as they fatten themselves up for Winter before they hibernate. These eating machines are considered an even greater threat than a basilisk. This is due to the powerful legs required to move their bulky bodies. A monster in every sense of the word and worse... it was currently Fall.


    With it''s massive frame, it stood on it''s hind legs and glared at me from above. Thankfully, this one didn''t look full grown. But it still made me feel tiny and insignificant as it towered above me. I noticed a few fresh cuts on it''s face. They were probably caused by the idiot moaning and lying dazed in the tall grass behind it.


    "Come on, ugly. Come and get me," I taunted as I tried to lure it away.


    It roared at me but otherwise wouldn''t move from that spot. It got back down on all fours, then turned around, moving back to the person they knocked down earlier.


    "Don''t see me as a threat, do you?" I growled. "Let''s fix that then, shall we?"


    I was surprised that a wound in it''s thigh wasn''t enough to make it think of me as a threat. If that wasn''t enough, then I''d have to do something drastic. I took a stance that Roland had taught me. One that allowed you to throw the strength of your whole body into a single thrust. I took aim at the small unprotected hole right under it''s tiny stub of a tail.


    "This''ll teach you not to ignore me!" I yelled as I rammed the sword straight up it''s ass.


    It was a good thing I flattened my ears before doing it or the resulting roar of pain and humiliation would have made me go deaf. I sure had it''s attention now as I ran as fast as I could out of the meadow and back into the trees.


    I ducked, weaved and jumped over and around the trees, while the bear just smashed straight on through. Seeing that, I thought that perhaps I had bitten off a bit more than I could chew. But then I remembered that''s exactly what I wanted. Without something that could quite possibly kill me, my plan would never work.


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    Once I felt we were far enough away, I turned and launched my attack. I jumped straight at it and slashed right across one of the gashes already in it''s face. It roared in pain and replied with a paw swipe, but I had already rolled out of the way. I felt the wind pressure from that mighty swing as it passed near me.


    My pulse quickened and I started breathing harder as I fought. I could feel a familiar sensation creeping up in the pit of my gut. Any one of it''s swipes could mean my death and I didn''t care. The fear of death was there, of course. But more so was the fear that I might be going crazy, because in some sick and twisted part of my mind, I was enjoying it.


    Again and again we would trade blows and every time I was the only one who landed a strike. It''s face was covered in wounds and I was even beginning to slice through it''s thick hide on it''s shoulders, front legs and paws. There were several times that I could have gone for a killing blow, but I didn''t take it. It wasn''t enough yet. That "frenzy" thing hadn''t happened yet.


    It seemed to realize it was losing and started a desperate charge. Expecting a swipe just like countless times before, I wasn''t prepared for what happened next. Right before it reached me it pushed off with it''s front legs and stood with it''s paws outstretched then quickly came back down, trying to crush me with it''s weight.


    I tried to leap backwards and barely made it out, but the impact as it hit the ground knocked me off balance, making me unable to dodge the incoming paw.


    "Gah!" I yelled involuntarily as the blow struck me.


    I had blocked as best I could with the broadside of the sword, but that didn''t do anything with the impact. I sailed through the air and slammed into a tree with a loud crack! I had no idea whether it was me or the tree that made that sound. I coughed as I tried to get the air back into my lungs and spat out some blood. The forest seemed to sway as I tried to stand. And to my horror, the bear was closing in to finish me off.


    "Damn," I grunted as I tried to force my legs to move. I had to move. "I''m not dying here. I refuse!"


    Right as the bear pulled it''s paw back for the kill, I felt something within me snap.


    "It''s here... It''s here! It''s here! IT''S HERE!" I yelled hysterically as my vision went red and my strength surged.


    Before I even realized what I was doing, I had chopped the bear''s paw right off. I didn''t stop there, either. Not satisfied with taking it''s paw, I slashed up it''s chest, back, face and legs. I had completely forgotten what I was supposed to try once I finally got into this state. My only thought was to kill this thing in front of me.


    It roared in agony as I sliced it up. And then there was silence as I stabbed the sword through it¡¯s skull. It hit the ground with a loud thump in a pool of it''s own blood. I noticed I had made quite the mess with blood splattered all over the trees and rocks.


    As I began to calm down I vaguely remembered that there was something I was supposed to do. It was really important...


    "Oh... wait, DAMMIT!" I cursed.


    I had forgotten to try magic while I was in that state! It was too late. I had calmed down and I no longer felt that burst of strength I had before. All I felt now was pain from the attack I received. Getting home tonight was going to suck. Then I had to explain my injuries. I also had to do something about the hulking bear carcass.


    Almost as an afterthought, I went to check on the stalker back in the meadow. But once I arrived, all I found was an impression in the grass where they fell. There was a small pool of blood too, but that was it. They were long gone.


    ________________


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 Chapter 13 - Determination

    Author''s Note: Hey, guys. Sorry this one came a day late. Real life decided to be a pain yesterday. Strangely, it happened on chapter 13. Weird how that worked out, huh? Oh, well. Enjoy.


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


    By the time I managed to limp my way back to the mansion, the sun was already rising. I could have gotten back much sooner, but trying to climb a three story stone wall with several broken ribs, bruises and whatever else is just as hard and painful as it sounds.


    Just as I expected, I received an earful from Roland about sneaking out. As punishment, I was going to have to recover from my injuries on my own. No help from a healer or anything, just bandages.


    "Every time you feel that pain, you''re going to remember how stupid you just were, " he said. "You could''ve been killed!"


    Since when does he care? Who does he think he is, my father?


    I was too tired to argue with him about it, though. And once I really thought about it, it was risky.


    I bet my life in combat with a creature several times my size for maybe finding a way to cast magic. For the first time in a while I started to wonder if I really needed magic at all. Why do I want magic so badly?


    At first the idea was just as something to get back at the city guard. It was something I thought I needed to survive. The simple fact that I''m still alive now without it means that it isn''t true.


    So what is the real reason then?


    By the time I headed back to school, I still didn''t have my answer.


    "Fen? What are you thinking about?" Milena asked me as we walked through the academy''s front gate.


    "I was wondering why I wanted magic so badly," I replied.


    "Well, isn''t it just because you want to fit in?" she asked. "Oops! I mean- no. It''s not that you don''t, it''s just..."


    "Fit in, huh..." I said.


    While Milena kept panicking I seriously thought about what she said. Was that really it? I am the only wulvari in the capital. Possibly the only one in the entire kingdom. Was I really just trying to belong?


    I pushed it from my mind as I waved goodbye to Milena and headed for my Magic Theory class.


    Today''s lesson was on special affinities. There are five discovered main affinities. These are fire, water, earth, wind, and light.


    Light was one I hadn''t heard about before. Apparently healers were of the light affinity, but that''s not all they do. They can also manipulate light itself and at the highest levels of power can even be used to attack. Seeing people actually do that, though, is very rare. Healers are far too valuable to be sent into combat, so research into their offensive capabilities hasn''t really gone anywhere.


    Supposedly, the king has the light affinity.


    Special affinities are ones that either don''t fit these or are derived from the main affinities. Magic was only discovered just over three hundred years ago and new affinities are being discovered all the time.


    Milena''s ice affinity is a sub-type of water. Normally, it''s incredibly difficult for someone to use spells from another affinity. Since ice is a sub-type of water, though, Milena could use water spells without much trouble if she worked at it.


    That''s easy to understand, but there are stranger ones out there, too. The teacher said that the blacksmith out on main street is a special sub-type of earth. He can use all the earth spells, but every time he does, it comes out as iron instead of regular stone.


    There were more weird ones, too. Fire magic with blue flames. Wind magic that uses smoke.


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    It was around this point in the lecture that I found the answer I was looking for.


    I don''t need to worry about the city guard anymore. I don''t care about fitting in. The real reason is just because it''s too damn interesting!


    People make these amazing things happen all the time. Even when they were throwing it at me, I still couldn''t help but think it was cool.


    I''ve come this far. I''m not stopping now!


    During the lunch break, I headed out onto the campus. Milena was kind of mad at me for ignoring her for the past few weeks and heading to the library and demanded that I had lunch with her.


    On the way there, I started hearing people whispering about me again.


    "Hey, that''s the kid who tried to pass the practical without using magic. They say he almost won."


    "What''s with the bandages, though?"


    "I heard he picked a fight with a dire bear and won. Still without magic."


    "No way in hell. That''s gotta be a lie."


    "I saw the practical. I think it''s possible."


    "But he''s only 12!"


    I heard that and more the whole way out to the courtyard.


    "Hi, Fen. People are talking about you. Did you know?" Milena greeted me with a question.


    "Yeah, kind of hard not to notice," I replied as I sat down on the bench next to her.


    "You seem a bit happier. Did you find an answer?" she asked.


    "Yeah. I''m not giving up, yet. It''s got nothing to do with protecting myself or fitting in or anything like that. Magic is just too damn interesting!" I replied.


    We chatted like that for a while until some kid came up to us and started talking.


    "Ah, Miss Milena Firth and... Fen? Was it? Let''s do away with the pleasantries, I know you''re honored to speak with me. Anyway-" he yammered on and on.


    Who the hell is this annoying little prick?


    He had dusty brown hair and brown eyes. He also had an annoying way of smiling constantly, yet it couldn''t possibly be more obvious that it wasn''t sincere. He was skinny and small to the point that you''d think he was sick. And that aggravating way of speaking...


    "Ah! Wormy," I said.


    "Wha-!? W-what did you just call me!?" he replied.


    "Milena, this is the guy I fought in the practical exam," I said as I introduced him to Milena.


    "Hello, Wormy," Milena greeted him with a smile.


    "M-my name isn''t Wormy! It''s-" he yelled.


    "You got brown hair and brown eyes. You''re skinny and have an earth affinity. Wormy is very fitting," I said as I grinned at his misfortune. Even the casual passersby listening in were nodding their heads and agreeing with me. If I played it right, I could get everyone in the academy to call him that.


    I wonder, if I asked the king, can I get his name legally changed?


    "Would you like to eat with us, Wormy?" Milena asked. She must''ve felt sorry for what I was doing to him.


    "W-well... as a matter of fact I would, but... My name-" he mumbled.


    "You eating or not, Wormy?" I asked, cutting him off.


    I thought today was going to be miserable. But thanks to Milena getting me thinking about these things, I''ve renewed my determination. Once I heal up, I''ll try again with a better (and safer) plan. Until then, I''ve found an entertaining new "friend" to play with.


    ________________


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 Chapter 14 - Future Plans

    Author''s Note: I''ve recently been getting comments that my chapters are too short. But with only about a couple hours or so of free time I have each day, this is the best I can do. Should I change my schedule to every other day and make longer chapters? Or stick with these bite-sized daily chapters? Please leave your opinions in the comments below.


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


    "Uncouth commoner!"


    "Wormy."


    "Mediocre swordsman!"


    "W-o-r-m-y."


    "Uhh... Ch-childish rapscallion!"


    "Woooorrrrrmmmmmyyyyyyy..."


    Since Wormy joined us for lunch that one time, he''s been coming back again and again. That just now was one of our attempts at witty banter. He keeps trying to give me an embarrassing nickname in revenge, but nothing he says bothers me nearly as much as the name I gave him bothers him. But, like I said, he keeps coming back for more.


    Is he a masochist?


    Milena was there too, but she mostly stays out of it.


    We were heading down the hallway after school headed for the front courtyard to leave. It''s the middle of winter now. Out the windows we can see a thin layer of snow outside covering the grounds. Around this time every year, we move to the second semester and we get to choose a couple elective classes this time.


    "So, what classes are you picking, Wormy?" I asked.


    "I told you, my name isn''t Wormy, you- you immature... you immature... um..." he stammered.


    "Check it out, Milena, he finally ran out of insults," I said with a grin.


    "Well, Wormy, what classes will you choose?" Milena asked, trying her best to ignore the bickering. She still called him Wormy, though. I wonder if it''s because I never give the guy a chance to tell her his real name or is it because she enjoys teasing him too?


    "Oh, forget it... I''m thinking of taking Advanced Monster Studies. I''ve heard that they let you fight captured monsters in that class," Wormy answered.


    "Now that sounds interesting. Maybe I''ll join you!" I said.


    "Please don''t..." he replied with a sigh.


    "Look, if you hate me so much, why do you keep coming back? In fact, why did you approach us in the first place?" I asked.


    "Well, you know that when you reach the forth rank, bronze, they have you form squads, right? That means I''ll need team members," he said.


    "And you''ll want Fen on your team?" Milena asked.


    "Well, he may be an incorrigible ass-" he started.


    "Hey! There''s a new one," I interrupted.


    Sighing, Wormy continued, "but he''s good with a sword and has that ridiculous strength. He''s a perfect front liner if I''ve ever seen one. It doesn''t matter if he uses magic or not."


    "Aww, I didn''t know you cared, Wormy," I mocked.


    "Oh, please just be silent," he replied.


    "Hmm... does that mean I can''t be on a team with you guys?" Milena asked with a sad look on her face. "I don''t want to be left out."


    "No, you can recruit people of lower ranks if you want. Though, it isn''t recommended," Wormy reassured her.


    "So, that means Milena can start a team and invite us?" I asked.


    "That''s right. She''ll be the leader, though," he replied.


    And so we planned to make a team in a couple years. We would need one more team member, but we''ve got two years to find someone else.


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    We exited the main building during our conversation and headed out the front gate. But as we started out onto the street I noticed a familiar presence.


    "Milena. Wormy," I warned.


    "I told you, my name is-" Wormy started up again.


    "Just shut up for a second," I barked at him. "Don''t look back and don''t raise your voice. We''re being followed."


    "What!?" he yelled.


    "What did I just tell you, you idiot!?" I growled at him.


    "Are you serious? You''re just being paranoid," he said as he started to turn.


    "I told you, don''t look! I think it''s the same person that followed me every night when I was out hunting a few months ago," I said.


    "How can you be so sure?" Milena asked.


    "The way their shoes scuff the street when they walk," I replied.


    "You can hear them from this distance? You must have the hearing of a wulvari or something," Wormy said. Oh, if only he knew.


    "I''ve got an idea," Wormy said with a smile on his face.


    I was skeptical at first, but after listening to it, Milena and I decided to go through with it.


    We turned a corner and got ready. Once I heard the stalker get close, I tapped Wormy''s shoulder to give him the signal. Then he cast a capture spell, Stone Prison and Milena followed it up by covering the whole thing in a thick layer of ice.


    "Hah! Got ''em!" I yelled.


    But just as soon as we started to celebrate we heard a loud crack. The ice-covered stone prison exploded sending shards of it in all directions and blast of wind headed in our direction. The dirt kicked up by the wind blinded us and we couldn''t see anything.


    I quickly drew my sword and leapt toward the retreating shape in the dust cloud. I tried to cut them down, but I missed and only slashed apart their cloak.


    "Dammit... they got away," I cursed.


    "What''s this?" Milena asked, holding a piece of paper she found on the ground.


    "Maybe it came from the person who was spying on us," Wormy guessed.


    It looked like some kind of journal page. Among the things I noticed on it were sentences like "recently killed a dire bear alone, despite his size and age" and "Subject has recently gained allies, no further progress on the frenzy or magic capability."


    I quickly took the paper out of Milena''s hands before they could notice the word "frenzy" on it. That would start a conversation that I didn''t feel like having at the moment.


    "It''s all stuff about me, huh..." I said, trying to divert attention away from the paper.


    "We need to tell Daddy about this," Milena said.


    Wormy headed off to the nearby boys dormitory for students who don''t have a residence here in the city. Then, Milena and I headed back to the mansion. We told Roland about our run in with the stalker as soon as we got home.


    They were clearly after me, but why? And the way it was worded made it sound like a report.


    ...or a research document.


    ________________


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 Chapter 15 - Omen

    Author''s Note:


    Hey everyone! School is finally over and I am now the proud owner of an associate''s degree!


    I have a confession to make, though. I''ve actually been done for a while now and I really just wanted to take some time off to have a breather and take a good look at where the story is going. Doing a chapter every day was okay at first because I was very excited about getting started. But as time went on and I got farther in, I realized that I couldn''t keep it up forever and it was hurting my quality. I can do better than this!


    I won''t be doing a chapter every day anymore, but I can promise that they''ll likely be longer more often as well as higher quality. I''m simply adopting the policy of "It''s done when it''s done."


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


    "Fen, why couldn''t we tell Daddy about the paper?" Milena asked me.


    When we returned to the mansion, we told Roland about the stalker, but I insisted on doing all the talking and made sure Milena didn''t mention the paper. If Roland knew about it, I know he''d want to see it and that would mean he''d have to report on what was written on it. The less people who know about the frenzy thing, the better, I think.


    Roland got a real serious look on his face and set off for the barracks and ordered us to stay at the mansion. Despite how much of a jerk he can be at times, it feels a little reassuring to know that he''s going to be doing something about it.


    "Fen, are you listening to me?" Milena asked again.


    "Sorry, I was a little distracted. It''s got personal stuff written about me on it. I''d rather not let other people see it," I replied.


    "Now I really want to see!" She said as she jumped at the pocket in my coat.


    I wasn''t going to just let her have it, though, as I quickly ducked away and ran towards my room. She''d never catch me if I seriously made a run for it, but I felt like playing around a bit and lowered my speed. Every time she got close, I''d speed up again or dodge around her and go back the way we came. We made a big ruckus and some of the hired help tried to scold us for running in the halls, but we were gone around the next corner before they could get a word in.


    The next day at school, I noticed that more of the city guard were posted in and around the academy grounds. That and Roland walked with us to and from school. A little embarrassing, but it''s a lot better than having to stay alert all the time.


    I ended up joining the Advanced Monster Studies course and didn''t regret it one bit. Just like Wormy said, we were allowed to fight monsters in class. Milena joined the class, too! We were even introduced to the squad system a little early with temporary groups. They''d only last for the monster we fought that day or we could group up again multiple times if we wished. Needless to say, Wormy, Milena and I all fought together every chance we got.


    The standard fighting style taught by the academy was to use magic first and rely on a sword when your affinity was bad against that particular monster. You would also use it when the monster managed to get in your face, then get some distance and try magic again. As a result, most students were only "okay" with a sword.


    Then there were the exceptions, the vanguard. Vanguard students used the opposite fighting style. They''d get in the monster''s face relying mostly on the sword and blasting it with magic only when they saw an opening and their affinity would work well against the opponent.


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    I was really thankful for this since that meant that everybody just assumed that I was training to be a vanguard, which hid the fact that I still couldn''t use magic. My only complaint was that all the monsters we faced were just small fry, like kobolds and goblins. I could handle those things alone!


    About a month before the end of the school year, though, something interesting happened. During morning sword practice Roland didn''t bring out the usual swords. I had long since graduated from using wooden swords to train and was using metal ones recently. But the next step confused me a bit.


    "Today, you''ll be using this," he said while handing me this... thing.


    I hesitated to call it a sword. It had a very large blade with an enlarged grip as well; clearly meant to be held by a full grown adult with two hands. The blade alone was bigger than I was. It was also very wide and very heavy with no slick curves, decoration or anything. It was plenty sharp, but I think that wasn''t really the point as it''s weight alone would be more than enough to cut something in two even if it wasn''t sharpened at all. It''d be more appropriate to call this thing a slab of metal on a stick than a sword.


    "What is it?" I asked.


    "This is called a monster blade. It''s used by the regular army vanguards to cleave through tougher monsters with brute force. I heard from one of the teachers at the academy that you''ve been fighting as a vanguard recently so I thought I''d train you how to use one next. With your strength you should be able to swing this one just fine. Just grip it with both hands tightly and-" he said, but I wasn''t really listening.


    I had just begun my growth spurt recently and my strength started increasing quite a bit along with it. Coupled with Roland''s training, I can confidently say that I had become stronger than him when it comes to brute force. So, I started swinging it with both hands at first. But once I started to get used to the weight, I gave it a few swings with one hand, then the other and back again.


    Roland sighed very loudly, "I''m not sure if the real monsters are the ones outside the walls or the one standing in front of me."


    I took that as a complement and just grinned at him. We then began my training with the monster blade. Even with this bigger and heavier sword, I still couldn''t beat him. That didn''t bother me nearly as much as it used to, but it still pissed me off a bit. Nothing else interesting happened until near the end of the school year.


    That day, Wormy, Milena and I were sitting out in the courtyard discussing what we were going to do over the Summer break. I was about to try one of the sandwiches Milena made when a large shadow passed over the courtyard and flew to the north with a deafening roar! Everyone in the school and the city as well went completely nuts!


    The day that Roland chased me through the East Gate was nothing compared to the insanity that happened then. The regular army soldiers started popping up throughout the whole city alongside the city guard and the royal guard. Only a few minutes passed before Roland came dashing into the courtyard with about ten more of the royal guard.


    Wasting no time, Milena asked, "Daddy, what''s going on!?"


    "A dragon has been spotted heading to the northern mountains," Roland replied.


    ________________


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 Chapter 16 - March

    The next few weeks after the dragon sighting were hectic. Soldiers stationed throughout the kingdom flooded towards the capital. The dragon quickly became all that anyone would talk about. The word on everyone''s lips was "subjugation".


    I thought everyone would be scared and fearing for the lives knowing that a dragon moved in nearby. But, surprisingly, everyone acted like there was some sort of party going on. The Main Street Market saw an explosion of business selling weapons, food and supplies to the soldiers coming in. Merchants came in from the countryside looking to cash in on this business, and of course, they need to be fed, too. So the profits increased even more! Even the people in the slums perked up from all the commotion.


    Only two days after the sighting, I saw Big Louie making deals and hooking up some of the people from the slums with jobs from the incoming merchants. A sudden economic boom like this is their chance to drag themselves out of the slums and find a respectable line of steady work, turning their lives around for the better. I was very happy to see it.


    This was all well and good, but... why is everyone in such a good mood!?


    A herald announced to everyone in the main square that a "dragon subjugation" was being planned. A cheer erupted from the crowd the moment they heard. They didn''t even need to hear the rest of the message, because they already knew it was coming and what it meant.


    I, however, did not.


    "What is going on around here?" I asked at lunch.


    "It''s a dragon subjugation, of course! They usually happen around every ten years or so when a dragon settles in nearby. We''ve been overdue for quite a while now," Wormy happily answered my question.


    "But why is everyone so festive about it?" I asked again.


    Milena answered me this time, "It''s because of the soldiers. They come from all around hoping to be selected to be part of the main subjugation force. That honor alone is already priceless. The sudden surge of people coming to the capital makes the merchants a lot of money and everyone benefits. Even the parts of the dragon itself are very valuable."


    Wormy jumped in excitedly, "And can you believe our luck at being students of the academy at this time!? The academy sends all of it''s students to protect the soldier''s supply carts from monsters while they go fight the dragon. At the same time, the students benefit from the experience of being nearby the fight. Do you understand!? This is better than front row seats at the theater! We''ll get to see it!"


    I didn''t know what a theater was... but I could tell he was excited.


    "But don''t people normally die at these things?" I asked.


    "Oh, so a few commoners tend to die here and there. -No offense. No, wait. I mean every bit of offense I can possibly muster," Wormy sneered at me. But I knew he didn''t mean it. "In either case, it''s no big deal. They know what they''re getting into when they sign up. It''s entirely their fault if they aren''t up to the task."


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    "But we''ll be safe, right?" I asked.


    "Of course we will. Do you honestly believe that the teachers of this academy will allow someone such as my wonderful self to come to harm? They''ll be there, too." Wormy started talking in that annoying way again. He didn''t do it as often anymore and only seems to do it when he''s really excited. That helped to show how big of a deal this all was.


    Just as he said, the school headmaster officially announced the plans to assist in the subjugation. All students are eligible to go if they choose. Obviously, we were going. Roland was going as well because the king himself will also be in the area overseeing the whole thing. It''s his job to protect the king, after all.


    Roland pulled me aside the night before and told me in no uncertain terms that if anything happens to Milena it wouldn''t end well for me. So, on the day we left for the trip, I made sure to bring the monster blade Roland had given me. If he sees me taking it that seriously, he might cut me some slack... maybe.


    As the lowest ranking students, we should be at the back of the line. But, thanks to Milena''s royal blood and Roland''s need to protect the king, Milena, Wormy and I all got to travel with the king''s group. Since the king needs to command the whole thing, we were all right behind the main subjugation force.


    Being that close to the action and the king, I fully expected Wormy to so excited he''d never shut up. But, to my surprise, he was so overwhelmed he hadn''t spoken a single word the entire time. He knew Milena was Roland''s daughter, but the fact that she was also the king''s niece was new information to him. He was so shocked and embarrassed by the whole thing, he stood there gaping for a full minute before finally regaining enough brain power to start walking.


    The trip itself was rather boring and uneventful. Most monsters heard us coming from a long way off and avoided us. The ones dumb enough to get in our way were quickly and mercilessly slaughtered by a long range magic barrage from the main subjugation force.


    Getting to the northern mountains took about three days. From the foot of the mountain, the main force will spread out a bit and begin searching for the dragon''s den. This should take one or two days. Then one more day to fight the thing and take care of the wounded (and dead) afterwards. After that, it should take three more days to return. The whole thing would take a little more than a week.


    It was sad to think about that there would be some people who wouldn''t be coming back with us. It scared me to think that one of us might not be returning to the capital.


    ________________


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 Chapter 17 - Treetop Rendesvous

    Sorry this one took so long. I actually had this chapter written once already and decided I didn''t like how it turned out. So I scrapped it, wrote a new outline, and basically started all over again.


    In any case, on with the story!


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


    We marched high into the mountains at the beginning of the 4th day. Milena was complaining of getting saddle sore while riding her horse next to Roland and her uncle, the king. Why does she get a horse and we don''t? And don''t complain to me about your butt getting sore! Wormy and I have been walking this whole way, you know! What about our poor aching feet?!


    Other than my feet hurting, I was fine, though. Wormy on the other hand looked like he could keel over and pass out from exhaustion at any second. He was panting like a dog and sweating all over the place. Then there was the smell! Not just him, but we were trudging along right behind a large group of over a hundred big sweaty men. How can these people deal with this?! I wanted to rip my nose off my face so I wouldn''t have to deal with that horrible stench!


    And then there was the intense boredom. No one said a word other than Wormy or Milena''s complaints here and there. There wasn''t really all that much to look at, either. To the left... some trees. To the right? Yup, more trees. Oh, and an occasional rock. Yay.


    The path was steep, narrow and full of rocks just waiting for you to hurt yourself on. The best part was that there was so many of us packed together, that we couldn''t even see the rocks until just before we stepped on them. Wormy would''ve fallen face-first into a pile of fresh horse droppings if I hadn''t have caught him. Normally, I would''ve let him fall, but I didn''t need him being covered in royal horse crap and adding to the foul odor attacking my nose.


    It wasn''t until about noon that we found a large meadow to rest at. Everybody could spread out in all directions and I could finally breathe.


    "Take a ten minute break, then begin the search for the dragon''s den!" the king ordered. Thankfully, we weren''t included in that order. That was meant for the main force.


    Wormy spoke up, "What are we going to do? Not like a few kids are going to be much help here."


    "I was thinking of climbing a tree to watch from. I''ll get a better view that way," I replied.


    Milena had somehow got stuck between Roland and the king while they talked about what they were going to do when the dragon is found. She wasn''t really saying anything, but she couldn''t find the right timing to properly excuse herself.


    Well, nothing I can do about it. In any case, I walked around the men who were taking their break. Most were just sitting around talking, drinking water, sharpening weapons or whatever else. I got a few stares and comments about being a kid, yet still strong enough to carry a monster blade all this way. This slab of metal on a stick didn''t really have a scabbard or anything. Instead it was carried on my back, sitting on a series of hooks attached to a harness. It would be kind of hard not to notice, I suppose.


    When I found a tree I liked, I jumped up, grabbed a branch and pulled myself up. Then just find another suitable branch, then repeat until I''m at the top. Nothing all that complicated. The men below seemed to be making a commotion about it, though and that confused me. Something about jumping so high with so much weight on my back. It''s not that amazing is it?


    When I got to the top, I felt a nice breeze coming from the north and that helped me cool down. I couldn''t take my jacket off thanks to the harness, so I was really grateful. I sat on a branch and braced my feet against another lower branch and settled in. The wind was making the tree top sway, but it wasn''t that big of a deal if I braced myself like that.


    Down below, the men were starting to group up into units and decide who would search where. There were two large cliff sides on either end of this mountain pass. The dragon could be hiding in any of the countless caves in either of these cliffs. I could even spot a few of these caves from where I sat in the tree.


    After a few minutes, the men headed out and the meadow became deserted. Looking back on the path we came in from, I saw that the teachers were gathering the students around the supply carts. They were probably giving lectures on equipment management or whatever. I was even more thankful I wasn''t part of their group, sparing me from something so boring.


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    I was probably going to be up there for a while, so I did my best to get comfortable. Thankfully, I was alone up there so I could pull my tail out and take off my hat. My tail was covered in sweat, so I flicked it off as best I could. The wind blowing past my ears also felt pretty good.


    "Haaaahhh..." I sighed.


    This isn''t good... I might fall asleep up here.


    I shook my head to clear the thought and wake myself up a bit. After that, all I could do was wait. I had sat there for a couple minutes when I heard a branch snapping down below. I was about to panic and try to hide my tail again, until I saw it was Milena climbing up.


    I spotted Wormy down at the bottom of the tree, saying something to Milena, but I couldn''t hear him from this high up. The wind wasn''t making things any easier, either. I thought he might start climbing too, but he headed off towards Roland and the king. Is he afraid of heights?


    Speaking of the king... did I ever bother to learn his name? That''s something important, right?


    "Fen, can you... h-help me, please?" Milena called out to me from below.


    She had managed to get right below me, but couldn''t quite make the last jump to the branch where my feet were at. So, I reached down and helped her up. She then sat down next to me on the branch. It would''ve been fine if it were just that. But the branch I was sitting on tilted upward. So when she sat on it, she slid down and ended up pressed against my side. On my left, was the tree trunk, on my right was Milena.


    Thanks to the weird angle, her feet couldn''t quite reach the branch I was bracing myself with. So she latched on to me pretty tightly once she started sliding.


    "Umm... you''re not sliding anymore. You can let go if you want," I said.


    But she wasn''t having any of that. She didn''t even say a word as she shook her head left and right. Why did she come up here if she''s afraid of heights, too?


    I braced her with my right arm behind her back so might feel a bit more secure. But the moment I did, she let out a quiet "eep!" sound and her face turned red. What did I do wrong, now? I was about to pull my arm back when she hung on to that, too. Make up your mind!


    "So... why did you come up here if you''re so scared?" I asked.


    Milena stuttered, "I-I-I''m n-not scared."


    "Yeah, right," I replied.


    "It''s true! It''s n-not the height, it''s just... umm..." she said as her face turned redder than before.


    This girl is making less and less sense. If it''s not the height, then what is it? She wouldn''t look me in the eye either. I decided it would be best if I got her mind off of whatever it was that she was thinking about. I pointed out towards the cliffs with my free arm.


    "Take a look. We can see a lot from up here." I said. "There''s a cool breeze, too."


    She looked up and took a look around. She was still a little stiff at first, but after a while she started to relax. But for some reason she began to lean on me like it was on purpose. She''s not falling asleep is she? That''s dangerous!


    ...Well, I guess it''s okay. I''ll make sure she doesn''t fall.


    While I thought that, I felt some weird fuzzy feeling and my face heated up. It wasn''t bad, though, so I just tried to ignore it. We stayed like that for maybe about half an hour when Milena decided to speak up.


    "Fen... I think... umm... I think I-" she began. But she didn''t get to finish. We were both startled when we heard a loud roar!


    I hung on to her to keep her from falling. Once she got herself steady again, I looked out at the left cliff and saw a fiery light coming from a cave.


    "Looks like they found the dragon," I said.


    I was excited, but Milena didn''t look too happy. Instead, she was looking at her hands with a displeased expression on her face.


    I could just barely hear her mumble, "Stupid dragon..."


    ________________


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 Chapter 18 - Knights Logbook

    Ugh... writer''s block sucks! It took me the longest time to figure out how to do this part. That and real life stuff getting in the way. SCREW YOU, REAL LIFE!


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


    [Excerpts from the logbook of a knight in the regular army]


    Day XX, Year XXXX


    Day 0 of the dragon subjugation


    Tomorrow morning we set out on the dragon subjugation. I can hardly contain my excitement at the opportunity to serve my king in such a challenging endeavor. I hear the king himself will also be present, personally commanding the mission. It is a shame that Prince Marcus Aldemann will not be attending, as he is currently in the Eastern Province. But the king''s niece Miss Milena Firth will be in attendance along with her father, Captain Roland Firth of the Royal Guard.


    If I prove myself capable, perhaps I can hope for a transfer into the prestigious Royal Guard.


    ------


    Day 2 of the dragon subjugation


    The past couple days have been uneventful. We set out and marched in a line formation. Those of us chosen to do battle with the beast itself marched at the forefront of the formation, with the kings retinue directly behind and everyone else after. Supposedly, our supplies are being taken care of by the students of the Royal Magic Academy with the excuse of "gaining experience". As Miss Milena Firth is a student of the academy, this makes the reason for her participation much more clear.


    She is accompanied by her father and two friends that I assume she met from school as she rides with the king. One of them is an earth mage whose name currently escapes me. The other, however, is far more interesting.


    Word among the other knights is that this child seems to be a commoner that somehow caught Captain Roland''s eye. I was unsure what to think. It wasn''t that something about the child seemed off. It was far more that everything was strange.


    The child, Fen, was wearing an odd cloth hat with two points on either side. One of women nearby commented to me that she thought the hat was "cute". Immediately after, a man responded by saying that he didn''t know why a boy would purposely wear something that was, as she said, "cute". That part in particular shocked me. Up until that point, because of his long black hair and soft facial features, I had originally believed he was a girl! But then I realized the fact that he was wearing the male uniform of the academy and I felt incredibly stupid and ashamed.


    But the oddities didn''t end there. He was carrying a monster blade of all things! I had thought that perhaps Captain Roland was having the boy carry his for him. I thought it cruel to have such a small boy carry that big load all this way. Strangely, he didn''t seem the slightest bit burdened by it. But during a break in the march, I discovered that the captain was carrying his own. Clearly, the blade the boy carried was for his own use! Again, I was ashamed by my assumptions. But... can that boy really swing that thing!?


    ------


    Day 3 of the dragon subjugation


    Today we encountered some monsters on our route to the mountain pass where we will begin our search. A small group of goblins seemed to have noticed us marching and must have gone mad with fear, choosing to attack instead of fleeing to safety. I personally smote one of them from afar with my lightning magic. I felt quite proud of my accomplishment... until the rest of the spells from our group landed and unleashed hell on the remaining goblins. There was nothing left of them to speak of other than a large chunk of charred earth.


    ...well, I did strike first. That counts for something, right?


    One look back at the king''s retinue seemed to reveal that it indeed did not count for anything at all. His Majesty and Captain Roland both yawned as if bored and took the entire happening as a matter of course. Even Miss Milena and her friends didn''t seem the slightest bit interested.


    This doesn''t bode well for the rest of this trip.


    ------


    Day 4


    Oh, by the gods above today was awful. I hope that never again do I have to have a day like this one. I suppose I should start at the beginning.


    We began the day as expected. We climbed the mountain and reached the pass where we believed the dragon to be and had a short rest before we started the search. As I was resting I spotted Fen heading to a large tree in the vicinity. I was quite surprised to see him climb it so easily. Several other knights were surprised as well. Far more shocking, though, was that Miss Milena and her other friend soon followed.


    The other boy soon left, but Miss Milena had climbed the tree after Fen. I don''t know what relationship those two have, but fortunately it seemed to have led Miss Milena to a rather safe place. High in a tree, they could see everything and I believed they should be safe should the battle with the dragon get out of control. It was comforting to think that we wouldn''t have to worry about protecting those children as well as the king.


    Oh, how wrong I was.


    We found the dragon shortly before nightfall. It''s earsplitting roar resounded throughout the mountain pass, announcing the deadly battle had begun. I supported the vanguard warriors as best I could by striking at the beast''s limbs and attempting to numb them with my magic right before the blows were struck.


    I never understood the mentality of the vanguard. Why would anyone willingly get that close to death? Someone has to do it, I suppose. Surely they were far braver than I. No matter what spell I tried or how many of us unleashed our spells at the beast, nothing seemed to slow it down in the slightest. Still, through a combination of shielding spells and raw martial prowess many of the vanguard managed to hold it''s attention. Whenever one of them became winded or injured, another would quickly take his place.


    Strangely the beast didn''t seem the slightest bit perturbed by our tactics. No excessive rage. No needless roaring of intimidation... In fact, looking back on it now, it seemed almost as if that scaly nightmare was enjoying it. The mere thought of it chills my mind. I think it may have even smiled at one point. I really hope I am imagining it.


    But the worst was yet to come. We hadn''t lost anyone yet, but with the beasts full attention on us, it had guarded perfectly against every attack we threw at it. It was a complete stalemate. That precious balance broke suddenly with disastrous results.


    A black cloaked figure entered my line of sight from behind the dragon. At first, I believed perhaps they were one of us. But if that were true, what were they doing back there? The answer came quickly when that bastard attacked the dragon''s soft rear end with a precision wind blade strike. The dragon wasn''t hurt... but it''s pride was. It immediately turned and spat a blast of fire straight into the forest where the cloaked figure once stood.


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    We had been taking extra care to draw the dragon away from the forest or anything that burns easily but that cloaked bastard ruined everything! The battle changed from a calculated encounter to complete chaos in seconds. Enraged, the dragon''s demeanor completely changed and attacked us at full force. One flap of it''s wings blew us all away like leaves on the wind. That gust of air only served to fan the flames of the nearby trees and it turned into a full-scale inferno!


    It was at this point that the call for retreat was called. Everyone scattered about in madness as we tried to dodge falling, burning trees as well as the dragon''s wrath. I was very quickly reminded, to my horror, that Miss Milena was in a tree as well!


    I rushed back to the clearing we rested at along with several other knights who knew of this as well. By the time we arrived, it was already too late. Everything was in flames and the tree in question had already long since fallen to the ground. Thankfully, I spotted Captain Roland dragging his daughter onto his horse and escaping with the king. She seemed to be quite understandably upset.


    Relieved that she was safe, we then escaped down the mountain. Once we got ahead of the blaze, all of the water, ice, and earth mages combined their efforts to contain the fire. As I use lightning, all I could do was assist the academy instructors in making sure all the students were accounted for.


    It took quite a while, but it seems all the students were safe. Some were a little singed and there were many injured, but there were no deaths among the students. Unfortunately, those of us in the main force were not so lucky. It seems over half of us were injured, confirmed dead, or missing and assumed to be dead.


    The only saving grace seems to be that the dragon did not follow us. Tomorrow, after the fire is completely out, we will begin the search for survivors... or most likely, their remains.


    ------


    Day 5


    And I thought yesterday was bad! Gods above, I am sorry for my insolence! Today, I have seen true hell and it comes in the shape of a little girl.


    I was awoken early in the morning by an agonized scream. I had heard several cries of mourning before, but never like this. It was not even sunrise yet, but alarmed by the sound, I exited my sleeping roll to find out what was going on. What I saw next I will regret for the rest of my life.


    It seemed Miss Milena had discovered that her friend Fen had yet to be accounted for. As he was traveling with His Majesty''s retinue, he was not on the academy''s roll sheet, which delayed this reaction. Although, I had a suspicion that perhaps Captain Roland and His Majesty had tried to keep it from her on purpose. Who could blame them? No one wants to hear that their close friend may be dead.


    Seeing this as a chance to promote myself I immediately volunteered to search for Fen and several other knights joined in the sentiment as well. Unfortunately, they had not noticed Fen before and asked for a description. That was the beginning of the nightmare.


    Milena was hesitant to give an accurate description and was mumbling something about "ears". It was then that Captain Roland revealed that Fen, surprisingly, was actually a wulvari. This caused a huge uproar throughout everyone who heard it. A wulvari child! And he was walking amongst us so easily and unnoticed! And the Captain knew of it already! Why did he overlook it? Why did Captain Roland of all people allow a wulvari so close to his daughter? Everyone knew of his history with them.


    His Majesty quickly silenced the commotion, then ordered us to begin the search anyway. I was confused. Why bother searching for someone who is our natural enemy? But some poor fool actually said it out loud.


    "Why must we search for some wulvari brat?"


    He hadn''t said it very loudly. The king didn''t even hear it. It was an honest question, and I wanted to know, too.


    But upon hearing it, something in Miss Milena simply snapped. There is a favorite saying belonging to my father. "Beware the quiet ones," he''d say. I assumed he was talking about my mother, but it seems I never truly knew what he meant until I saw what happened this day. The poor bastard who grumbled about the order didn''t even know what hit him.


    In that very instant, with no sigil and no casting time at all, the poor man was frozen solid as a rock. Ice crystals as tall as ogres towered over us. Just being near them made me feel as though I were suffocating. Just how she had managed to cast such an impossible spell was mind numbing.


    The worst part, though, was that icy cold gaze. One look from her in that state made me believe as if my very soul were about to freeze over in fear. Many of my fellow knights soiled themselves without hesitation or shame. Someone managed to gather his wits faster than the rest of us and immediately took off running for the charred forest.


    I had thought he simply wanted to escape, at first. That was all I could think about at the time. Then I remembered the order. We all immediately clung to our only hope of salvation. WE HAD TO FIND FEN!


    Everyone immediately started running for the blackened trees calling out the boy''s name. Everyone without exception. Knights, students, teachers... even the wounded! Nobody wanted to be Miss Milena''s next target.


    The search lasted all day and deep into the night. We found the remains of many of our soldiers. We even found a couple survivors. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the wulvari boy to be found. But our fear kept us going. Then I heard a shout near the mouth of the dragon''s den. That alone wasn''t a good sign.


    We found the boy''s monster blade. It was fused to a small boulder after it had been half melted by dragon fire. Another soldier had found what appeared to be a charred piece of his strange cloth hat. Both of these would need to brought to Miss Milena. We drew straws to see who would do it... and I drew the short straw.


    I gathered my courage and walked to what I believed to be certain death. The earlier man was saved thanks to Captain Roland''s skillful use of fire magic, but I had no delusions that I would also be so lucky. I presented the items to her and held my breath...


    But, she took them from my hands and simply cried. The boy was assumed to be dead and the search was called off. Still, no one dared breathe a sigh of relief, because of the fear that they might incur her wrath again.


    Now, we will begin our march home in defeat and shame. I think I''ll retire and take up farming.


    ________________


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 Chapter 19 - Nightmarish Confrontation

    Okay, it''s official... I suck at writing fight scenes. This took me way too long. *head-desk*


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


    Fire.


    Fire in all directions.


    Is this a dream? Or is it a nightmare?


    I had heard several religious people say before that I belonged in a place like this. "Hell", they called it. A place reserved for people who do horrible things. Wulvari too... just because.


    I knew it was just a forest fire, but the fear and anxiety I was feeling made it so much worse.


    I got separated from Milena shortly after the fire started. I had no idea where Wormy was and I didn''t see Roland or the king either.


    My hat was flying off deeper into the burning forest and I had no choice but to chase after it. I couldn''t go back to town without it. Something was strange, though. The intense heat was causing the wind currents to shift. That much I understood. Worse, this high up the mountain, it was mixing with the clouds or cold air or some other thing I didn''t understand and causing a lightning storm.


    But that wasn''t the strange part. The strange part was that my hat was flying against the wind.


    With my ears still exposed, I didn''t see a point in hiding my tail down my pants. In this chaos, though, it didn''t really matter. No one had any time to worry about anyone other than themselves. I kept seeing shadows of men running back the other direction. I could barely hear them yelling about this or that over the roaring flames. Every once in a while was also the roar of a really pissed off dragon.


    I hacked and coughed as the smoke burned in my chest and the heat stung my eyes. But no matter how much it hurt, all I could do was continue to chase that stupid hat. Eventually, I came to another clearing.


    There was a large cave opening here. I couldn''t see far into it''s depths, even with the blazing forest fire providing plenty of light. All the grass that was here was completely burned away already. Some trees were completely burned out and were now just big black poles sticking out of the ground with glowing red embers inside. The most striking feature of this area, though, were the big claw marks all over the ground and around the mouth of the cave.


    This was the entrance to the dragon''s den.


    I didn''t have time to worry about the dragon, though. Thankfully, I could still hear it roaring and thrashing around in the distance. No, I had a much more immediate problem.


    That problem was a black cloaked man standing in front of me. Something told me that this was a different person than the one that had been stalking me before. This guy was bigger and it was far more obvious that he was a man. Broad shoulders, thick arms and a chin big enough to look like he could dig a hole with it. And they call me a "beast".


    He had my hat.


    "Looking for this?" he taunted me as he waved it in the air.


    "Give that back!" I demanded.


    He grinned and put it in a small pouch attached to his belt. "No, I don''t think I will," he said. "You won''t be needing it anymore, anyway."


    "What do you mean by that?" I asked as I drew the monster blade off my back and fixed my stance, ready to fight for it if I had to.


    "Because you''re going to die here, of course," he said.


    He drew the sword from his waist and took a stance of his own, slowly circling me around to my right.


    I circled to the left and matched his pace as I questioned him. "Why do all this!? I saw what you did. You attacked the dragon from behind and started this mess! All those humans died and more are going to die! All just so you can kill me!?"


    Instead of an answer I got a wind blade straight to the face! I quickly drew the broad side of the monster blade up to block, but I couldn''t defend against all of it. It cleanly sliced a large cut over my right eye.


    "You conceited little brat!" he yelled. "Do you think the world revolves around you!? And no, I did not start this. You did!"


    I was completely stunned. I had no idea what he was talking about. He didn''t let that opening go to waste and continued to send one wind blade after another at me.


    "My parents were killed in a wulvari raid when I was young! Years later, my wife and son were taken, too!" he yelled.


    "That has nothing to do with me!" I yelled as I charged at him. I knew I couldn''t keep blocking them forever, and even that wasn''t very effective. My clothes were being ripped to shreds and cuts were opening up all over my body. But I closed the distance and I swung with an overhead strike.


    He blocked it with a quick shield spell and slashed a good chunk out of my left shoulder with his sword. Then he jumped back a step or two, taking the time to keep yelling at me while I was reeling from the pain.


    "There are many of us!" he continued. "I''m not the only one! Wulvari have ruined ALL of our lives! We begged and pleaded for the king to come to his senses and wipe out you bastards once and for all!"


    He punctuated every one of his sentences with another wind blade, ripping my uniform and my body to shreds. I charged again and swung from the right this time. But thanks to losing a lot of blood, there wasn''t as much power in it and he blocked it with his sword.


    He stopped using magic at this point and he tried to take me on in close combat. He had longer reach because he''s an adult, but my larger weapon made up the difference. He was good with the sword, but nothing compared to Roland. He couldn''t land a single hit on me anymore. I just needed to keep him too close to cast spells. The fact that the overly emotional idiot kept talking only made it easier for me.


    We exchanged one blow after another. I may have been bleeding all over the place, but I could tell that my heavy weapon was wearing him down, too. I got a shallow cut across his chest and another on his leg. Soon I''d take him apart.


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    "It wasn''t long until we gathered enough people to convince the king. Plenty of the nobles had joined our cause. If we could get Captain Firth to join us as well, it would be only a matter of time until the king gave in! But then you came along!" he bellowed.


    Right when he said "you" he suddenly kicked me right in the face and I fell onto my back. I quickly rolled to my side as he gouged out the ground where I was only moments before with his magic. He quickly backed up, knowing full well that I could beat him if I kept close. I wouldn''t let him win that easily, though. I felt my muscles tighten as that frenzy thing activated again in response to the danger.


    I took him by surprise with my sudden burst of speed and strength and shattered his shield spell with a heavy swing from the side. Unfortunately, he managed to block with his sword too at the last second. I knocked him clear off of his feet and he soared away from me. It felt great... until I realized the mistake I made.


    I had knocked him too far away. Even with the frenzy, I''d never make it in time to stop his next spell... wait... spell!


    Right when he unleashed his magic, I took the risk and tried to cast my own. A spell shield. I didn''t have to know what my affinity was if it was this spell. It works for everyone.


    Right when I threw out my hand and invoked the spell, I felt a huge amount of mana suddenly rush forward and form the sigil. A massive wall made of mana appeared between me and him. It was so huge it stuck into the ground.


    Whatever spell he had sent at me crashed into it and blew back right into his face, knocking him into a small boulder. He coughed up a large amount of blood as he looked at me with an astonished look on his face. Or as much of it as I could see... Unfortunately, I wasn''t in any position to enjoy it.


    I felt the effects of the frenzy immediately end. Worse, I felt incredibly tired. It was mana exhaustion. I didn''t intend to, but I had used up all the mana I had in that one single spell. With no mana to fuel it, of course the frenzy would end. I fell to my knees as all the pain came rushing back twice over.


    "Haha... This isn''t even funny. You really are a monster," he said. "Well, it doesn''t matter. Because of you, the captain won''t even talk to us anymore. He was to be our trump card, and you ruined it. So now, we have to take drastic measures."


    I struggled to stay upright and glared at him, breathing hard. I felt exhausted and despite the raging fire all around the area, I felt cold too. I could only think that I was dying.


    "Killing you is just the start. We''ve been given orders to kill the king and have it blamed on you. Then when the prince is crowned, we''ll go straight to war. In the confusion of this forest fire all the evidence will be burned away. All we have to do is kill anyone who''ll speak in your defense," he explained with a sneer.


    "N... no..." I grunted. He''s going to-


    "That''s right. I''m going to kill that girl, too!" he said.


    Using the last of my strength I heaved the monster blade as hard as I could straight at him. It quickly spun through the air right on target. But right at the last second he dodged to the side and it stuck through his cloak and stabbed into the boulder behind him.


    "...Dammit..." I cried. I had failed.


    I was going to die and I couldn''t even take the bastard down with me. I finally used magic, just like I dreamed I would someday and all it did was get me killed. And now this jerk and his friends are going to chase after Milena and the king and kill them too.


    He scoffed at me and raised his hand to get ready to finish me off. As his hand began to glow, I was distracted by a large shadow that seemed to be growing behind him. The fire was starting to die down now, and the light was diminishing. But a bolt of lightning revealed what it really was. The dragon was back!


    Right before the sigil formed, the dragon lunged forward and roasted the bastard alive with it''s fire breath! The fire was so hot, it melted my monster blade right into the boulder. The man''s cloak and clothes quickly burned away, freeing him from the boulder, but that didn''t really do him any good, as he was now a human torch.


    His screams of agony as he flailed around quickly faded as the dragon repeatedly blasted him over and over again. He tried to run, but it didn''t do him any good. He soon fell to the ground, but the dragon didn''t seem to think it was enough and continued burn his corpse until there wasn''t even any ashes left. He really must''ve pissed it off.


    Satisfied, the dragon huffed and swept away the spot where he fell with it''s tail, completely wiping away whatever, if anything, remained. It then turned and looked at me.


    Well, it was obvious that it only came here to get revenge on that guy. It really had nothing to do with me. But with him dead, Milena, Wormy, Roland and the king all had better chances of getting out of this alive. I was done for regardless, so I just smiled at the dragon. Whether it intended to or not, it had helped me out.


    The dragon just stared at me as it came closer. Strangely, it didn''t seem all that threatening to me anymore. I guess when you know you''re going to die anyway, nothing seems scary.


    Unable to keep my head up anymore, I collapsed and passed out.


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