《Nova》 Prologue: Part 1: Elementia Prologue : Part One : Elementia Black. A void. An endless void of darkness, an abyss of nothingness. Then, streams of light seem to flow into the black canvas like rivers, everywhere they pass small specks of color trail behind them. The once empty darkness is now filled with immeasurable amounts of light and color. Within the void, light and colors begin to gather together. As if being pulled by an enormous force, they begin to gather. They spiral around their center slowly at first, but gradually gathering around the center they spin faster...and faster¡­ and faster¡­ until they''re spinning so fast that the colors are fused together creating a pure white maelstrom. This pure white shrinks until it forms a sphere that looks like nothing more than a small marble. A marble illuminating billions of miles of space around itself. The bright white light slowly recedes, gradually losing its volume but never dimming in its intensity. The white surface of the marble, like the black canvas of the void, is slowly being painted with numerous colors. In time the sphere is filled with color just as the void is. There are the blues of bellowing seas, tranquil lakes, and traveling rivers; the greens and yellows of the enormous forests and plains covering the earth; the whites and grays of roaming clouds and storms; even the reds and oranges of fires that flicker in and out of existence. This was the beginning of the world known as Elementia. Evolution The world of Elementia, although like many others, is different from the vast majority. The core of this world consists an extremely powerful energy. The core is not of molten rock like many others, but of mana. Mana is a pure energy. It is not the power of elements nor is it the power of souls. It is simply energy. An energy which fuels life, creation, and existence. An energy that gives birth to all things, filling the surface of the world. Life spreads across the world. Everything is different, yet they are all the same. They all are born and die in the cycle of mana that flows throughout the world. There are the humanoid races. Those with great minds and great creativity. They are weak in nature, but with the right temperament their hearts and minds can become the strongest substance in the world. There are the beast races. Those humble creatures who live and die off the world with the simplest lives. They grow and live instinctually, following their ancestors through the cycle of life, surviving in the ways they know best. There are the monster races. Those fierce creatures with fierce bodies and fierce minds. To them, only the strong deserve to live. Lesser beings are of no concern to them, as they pursue only strength and power. There are the spirit races. Those noble beings who attune themselves to the energies of the elements. Living in the natural treasure places of the world, growing amidst the condensed elemental energies they contain. The world evolves in, forever seeking to continue the story of its existence. Life falls into a hierarchy by which those who thrive stand at the top, while those who do not stand at the bottom. The monster races, with their thirst for dominance and powerful bodies, control vast expanses of land, sea, and sky. The spirit races, with only their desire to protect the natural treasure troves of the world, create powerful bastions, driving away all those who seek to destroy them. The beast races, undeterred live in all places of the world as they are considered to be a part of the world itself. They live and die by instinct with peaceful lives compared to the others. The humanoid races, with their weak bodies and weak souls, live in a constant struggle. Monsters constantly plague their small settlements, and competition for food is extremely challenging. Yet their minds do not give in, continuing to find ways to survive. Re-evolution Humanoids. The weakest group of the sentient races of Elementia. They live in the rough wilderness, moving in groups to keep away from danger. Each and every day a struggle to feed themselves. Yet even under all this suffering, they possess the will to smile. While living constantly in the face of death, they still smile and laugh. They can find the times to enjoy their lives, for the fact that they were still living was like a miracle itself. So what if they were the weakest? They were still alive were they not? So since they¡¯re alive, why don¡¯t they try to thrive. In the years that their races lived, they collected experience. Through trial and error; success and failure; death and survival, they found what worked and what didn¡¯t. They explored the world around them, learning it¡¯s limits, and how they could make use of it for their survival. They discovered mana. The energy of the world. The energy of everything around them. They felt its flow; its movements; its pulses, and discovered they could control it. They discovered that it could flow into their bodies and make them stronger. They discovered it could flow into their souls and make them powerful. They discovered the elements. The energy the elements contained. The raw power. They felt its force; its life; its strength, and discovered they could manipulate it. Although they were born the weakest, they could become the strongest. Revolution They discovered, they could be strong. They discovered they could fight back. They discovered they could thrive! Battle. The thrill of fighting with your life on the line. To move your body like a god of destruction, to control the elements like a god of power. They battled with the monsters! No longer would they run away, hiding in desolate areas of the world. They could build their lives upon the lands they once had to flee from. They had the desire to conquer! To avenge the lives of their ancestors against the monsters, and to create a home for their descendants. But their conquering was short lived. For in their foolishness, they tread upon the domain of monsters they shouldn¡¯t have ever disturbed. The strongest of them were crushed like insects. Their greed had taken them too far into the wilderness. So they were forced back to the lands that they had made their own. They no longer dared challenge the dangers that lie beyond the borders of the wilderness blindly¡­ Such frightening dangers.. Yet.. their desire to battle, to conquer could not be quelled.. Their desire for more land, for more wealth, for more.. Their greed overtook them. The races of humanoids waged war upon each other, devastating the lives that they themselves had raised up. Their lands became places of battle. Fires raged through settlements, men were slaughtered, women were raped, children were enslaved. Leaders rose and fell like short-lived flames, and only the strong survived to prosper from it. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The Elementals Even through all this, Elementia is still young. Compared the age of the universe around them, their accumulated lives are but a grain of sand in a vast desert. However, there are those races who have experienced much more than them. There are even those who have existed since the beginning.. Among them are the elementals. The race of elementals began on worlds just the same as all the other races, and they struggled to grow in power and thrive as well. Born out of the same raw power that the humans discovered, this race has existed since the dawn of the universe. Eventually, elementals outgrew their home worlds, and began searching for others. In their quest for power, their beings relied on the pure energy called mana. Through that mana they would create more elemental energy, and would grow stronger. In order to do so, these elementals created pseudo-worlds out of the elemental energy within them. When they found a world that was suitable for their training they would make a bridge between that world and their own in order to gather the mana. However, in order to gather the mana, they needed a medium to connect themselves to the core of the world. This medium was the life that was created by the world, and in order to do use them they needed to form a soul-bond with the elemental. By forming these bonds, the elementals will give their chosen masters great power over the elements by attuning their souls with the element. Having one¡¯s soul attuned to the elements¡­ gave one power. Frightening power. Elementia was one such world with a core of mana that these elementals sought after. For when Elementia was created, the intensity of the unprotected mana core could be felt at unimaginable distances, thus causing a great number of elementals to race towards it. However, not every elemental who wanted to would be able to train with this world. Only those who fought for their elemental seat of power would be able to. By accordance with an ancient law laid out by the Elemental Gods, the oldest of the elementals, only one elemental of its kind is allowed train with a world at a time. The law existed in order to keep balance and harmony between the elements of the worlds, and prevent chaos from taking place. After all, if a bunch of elementals went around destroying worlds, they would probably anger many of the beings throughout the universe. So, only the strongest of elementals would be allowed to sit upon the seat of power for Elementia. As each seat was filled, the world of Elementia was forever changed. The Power of the Elementals The Elemental Lord of Water, Earth, Wind, Fire, Lightning, Light, and Shadow. These were what the powerful elementals were known by on the surface of Elementia. These were the beings, that brought new power to the world. Those who met the requirements of the elementals, would receive great power. The power to determine the fate of the world. The first had to do with the body. Without a physical form, the being wouldn¡¯t be able to contain the elemental¡¯s power. The second had to do with the soul. The nature of the soul must be of the same nature as the elemental. The third had to do with the mind. The mind of the being must be capable of sharing itself with that of the elemental. The last had to do with time. Only when the being was at its youngest age would the soul be weak enough for the elemental to form the bond. (Within three days of birth.) When the bond was completed, the elemental would sleep within the being for six years. For six years the elemental would dedicate the mana within its master to the Elemental lords as payment. Once the six years of tribute were complete, the elemental would awaken. From that point on, the master and the elemental could grow in power with freedom. Kingdom Come Yet things were too chaotic on the surface of Elementia. With the arrival of elementals, the wars became even more horrendous. During this age the humanoid races, the monsters races, and the elemental races died in numbers beyond imagining. The balance of the world was constantly changing, and the world was becoming unstable. In an attempt to end the constant warfare that threatened to destroy the world, the Elemental Lords created seven great heroes who could bring about peace to the world. Each lord sought out a new born soul with a purity far greater than those of others, and infused within them a blessing to increase the power of their soul. Then they had their eldest and most powerful offspring bond with the life form through the soul-bond, and had them follow out their will to create peace on the surface of Elementia. This gave rise to the seven greatest powers Elementia had ever witnessed, among them four humanoid and three monster. These seven forcefully brought about peace to the world, threatening to destroy those who did not comply. To control the populace, they created kingdoms by which to rule them. The four humanoids agreed to create four humanoid kingdoms which ruled a territory in which clans were allowed to cooperate in managing the kingdom. ->The Beast-Plain Kingdom, with clans of Beastmen. Those who possessed the power of feral blood within their veins. ->The Elf-Forest Kingdom, with clans of Elves. Those who possessed powerful souls capable of using great magicks. ->The Dwarf-Mountain Kingdom, with clans of Dwarves. With bodies as sturdy as rock and souls as hot as magma to explore the treasures buried within the world. ->The Human-Noble Kingdom, with clans of Humans. The jack-of-all-trades race that practiced weird military tactics and trade tactics to amass enormous wealth to build a comfortable lifestyle. The three monsters agreed amongst themselves to divide their territory to enough to sustain their own races, and agreed to create similar clans out of the lesser monsters that will be ruled over by the greater monsters. ->The Dragon-God Clan, ruling much of the expanses of forest and air and controlling many of the monster clans. ->The Serpent-Lord Clan, ruling the vast seas along with the aquatic monster clans. ->The Lion-Emperor Clan, ruling the largest plains seen on this world along with the clans that make them their home. While the wars ceased, fighting still occurred. But never since was Elementia plunged into a war that threatened to devour the world.
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Prologue: Part 2: A child, A hope Prologue: Part 2: A Child, A Hope A soft wind rolls across a plain of honey-colored grass.. The sun illuminates the world with a warm, red hue.. A man and woman stand next to each other, holding hands as they stare into the setting sun.. The man¡¯s fluffy, black hair ruffles in the breeze; his brilliant golden irises reflect the light of the sun, like a treasure gifted from the gods; his feline-like ears twitch slightly atop his head, as his tail swishes nervously behind him. His body is defined and lean, with the lines of his muscles easily visible beneath the light, black clothing that covers him. The woman¡¯s hair is a deep red, flowing unbounded in the wind; her eyes are a gentle brown, like that of chocolate; her ears are pointed, and her face has a narrow shape. Beautiful. A beauty that even regular elves couldn¡¯t compare to. Her figure, although seemingly fragile, looked like it held immense power and her skin held a slight red color. As if she was a burning flame, everything around her seemed to be raised several degrees in temperature. A simple red robe fluttered about her body, the curves of her form easily seen. The only thing odd about them, was the difference in height. The woman stood almost a full head taller than the man. Such is the difference in their race, it seems. As the sun reaches down into the horizon, already halfway gone, the wind around them seems to pick up speed. Flames crackle in the air around them.. From head to toe, the two of them are slowly covered in a lively flame, consuming their figures. As soon as the flame completely devours them, the sun shines strongly. Despite the fact that it is already setting, it shines as bright as if it is still midday. The light envelops their flaming figures, and swallows them whole. The sun¡¯s light returns to how it was before, and the two of them are gone. New Life Amidst a sea of red grass, a solitary black, circular rock sits upon the ground. As if cut by an immeasurably sharp blade, the rock is perfectly flat. Strange rune markings can be found carved into it¡¯s surface. One by one, the runes blaze to life.. A twister of flame erupts from the edges of the stone, towering into the crimson sky above. Seconds later, the twister stops spinning and the flames disperse into the air. ¡°So this is the Plane of Fire, we actually made it here..¡± The golden-eyed man sighs in relief. ¡°Yes, or do you still dare doubt my abilities? Shall we have another spar?¡± Sensing danger, the man hurriedly replies, ¡°Of course not dear, if I had doubts I wouldn¡¯t have married you, and be here getting ready to.. do what we¡¯re going to do.¡± The woman blushes slightly, reminded of the unsaid intentions, ¡°A-ah.. right¡­ Well then, Charlotte, come.¡± Fire energy begins gathering, condensing, and taking form as a flame-red fox. ¡°Alright Charlotte, please lead the way for us.¡± The fox begins running across the sea of red grass followed by the man and woman. The black rock disappears into the distance behind them.. ¡­. The man and woman move steadily through a forest of pink bamboo. From the pink bamboo sprout leaves of blue flame that produce no smoke. The bamboo forest stands as tall as a small mountain with uncommonly thick trunks for a bamboo tree, and, even if one spent hours looking for a path, it would seem almost impossible to travel through such a densely clustered forest of bamboo. Yet the man and woman seem to be moving through it as if the bamboo itself is making way for them. They enter a clearing within the forest, a small hut constructed of pink bamboo stands in its center. In front of the hut is a statue of a regal tiger made out of white stone. Even though its only a statue, it seems to impose a strong pressure on the surroundings. The man and woman come before the statue, and kneel down in respect. The woman holds out a small ruby crystal in front of her. Within the crystal burns a small ruby flame, hard to see unless inspecting closely. As if the statue is alive, it¡¯s eyes stare down at them. A flame of multiple colors seems to come from out of thin air, as it wraps around the man and woman. They patiently wait.. for what almost seems like hours, they wait. Eventually, the flame pulls back, and the ruby crystal is now gone. The statue of the tiger now seems to smile, if a tiger could smile that is. The woman and man look happy, as they bow to the tiger again before heading into the small hut. ¡­. Night has spread across the forest of bamboo, the blue flames of the bamboo dye the world in the forest with an azure hue. Small flame creatures scamper about in the forest. The man and woman are now are inside the small hut, laying between the sheets of a bed. The man smiles while looking at the woman, ¡°When we return, we will surely surprise the family. To think.. one of my kin will be able to use magic..¡± The woman reaches out to the man¡¯s chest, ¡°I¡¯m sure our child will be amazing, if no one is surprised then they must¡¯ve been hit upside the head.¡± The man twists his naked frame until he is on top of the woman, ¡°Haha, quite so. Our child will be amazing.. Yes, our son will be quite spectacular.¡± The woman wraps her arms around the man¡¯s waist, her naked figure glowing with a seductive red aura. She smiles wryly, ¡°Eh? And who says it¡¯s a son?¡± ¡°I did.¡± As the man pounces into the woman¡¯s embrace. A night full of activities commences.. ¡­. A year later. The screams of a woman ring throughout the forest. The blue flames of the bamboo trees blaze brightly, dancing through the air. The crackling of flames can be heard as the air around the small hut combusts with little bursts of red flame. The statue of the tiger, is no longer a statue. In front of the small hut, a tiger pure white fur stands. Rising to almost a hundred feet in height, it towers over the hut. Flames of ever-changing color blaze from the stripes on it¡¯s body. Silently, the tiger stares at the hut. The flames on its body soon stop changing, maintaining a constant crimson flame. The crimson flame slowly escapes from the tiger¡¯s body, extending to the ground. There, another tiger takes form. A tiger of pure crimson flame. The crimson tiger bows to the regal tiger as one would bow to their king, and turns towards the hut. Losing its form, the tiger turns into a wind of flame, and enters the hut. The flames of the regal tiger once more become an ever-changing color. ¡°ROOAARR!¡± It releases a realm shaking roar. Immense amounts of fire energy began to gather in the area around the small hut. The energy is swallowed in by the insides of the hut. The air temperature rises to an extreme level, the air no longer combusts with small sparks, but massive eruptions of flame. The flames do nothing to the surroundings, as it all gets sucked into the hut. The fire energy soon stops gathering inside the small hut. The air temperature returns to its normal heat. The regal tiger has turned back to a statue. The screams can no longer be heard. Silence. ¡°WAAUUGGHH! WAAUUGHH!¡± The sudden cries of a newborn child. ¡­. In the hut within the forest of pink bamboo, a woman is holding a now sleeping baby in her arms. Her chocolate-brown eyes gaze a warm love as she watches her child. The warmth coming from this new mother is so immersive as to cause a man who has succumbed to the frostbite of the coldest regions of the world to forget the meaning of the word cold. A thin layer of deep red hair but with black stripes like the fur of a tiger covers the head of the child. Twin small feline ears protrude from his head. He breathes ever so slightly and calmly, seeming to be lost in the comfort of his mother¡¯s arms. The man kneels down beside the woman, who is sitting up in bed. Tears slowly creep down his face from his golden irises, as a smile threatens to tear his face in half. ¡°See? I k-knew he¡¯d be a b-boy¡­¡± As he chokes on his own emotions; truly a situation where a man didn¡¯t know whether he should laugh or cry. ¡­. In the sea of red grass, man woman and child walk on to the familiar black stone. Grasping each others hands, fire energy gathers around them once again. The air crackles with small sparks, and their bodies are slowly covered in flame from head to toe. The runes blaze one by one. A twister of flame erupts from the black stone, completely surround them. A flash of light engulfs them. As it fades away, they¡¯re nowhere to be seen, and the twister disperses. Traitors In the north-western plains of the Beast-Plain Kingdom, Pendragonia, there is a city known as Pyralis. A city which belongs to the Pyralis clan of the cat-people race. They¡¯re a small clan, but occasionally a strong child is born with the potential to become a great warrior. The current head of the Pyralis clan, Uther Pyralis, is one such warrior. A long time ago, his ancestors participated in a war against the Human-Noble Kingdom, and they achieved a great victory. This town was given to them by the king at the time as a reward for their achievements. In the northern part of the city, the Pyralis clan residence resides. This is where the main family to the current head lives. This is also where the earlier man and woman live. Uther Pyralis, the golden-eyed man. Elizabeth Pyralis, the red-haired woman. Their child had only been born but two days earlier, but they had decided to return to their home instead of remaining in the Plane of Fire. Within a study inside the residence, Uther is sitting at desk with many papers and books piled around it. Another man stands behind him, wearing leather armor with a sword sheathed across his back, and a dagger at his side. His eyes and hair are brown, showing that he¡¯s from one of the branch families of the Pyralis clan. ¡°What is it Henry?¡± ¡°Master, a few months ago, we lost contact with Lord Balthor. I must warn you, Malzar may know something by now.¡± ¡°Lord Balthor wouldn¡¯t be so weak as to say anything, even if they had a reason to arrest him they wouldn¡¯t get anything out of him. You should know just as well how stubborn he is.¡± ¡°You are right, Master. But there is another matter. King Malzar has summoned you to the royal palace. Even if he doesn¡¯t know anything, he is still planning something.¡± ¡°... I see. Then I¡¯ll have to go see what he¡¯s planning, won¡¯t I?¡± ¡°Master.. you don¡¯t mean to actually accept the summons? What if it¡¯s a trap? You know how ruthless he is!¡± ¡°Can the head of a small clan like me refuse the summons of my king without repercussions? If I were to refuse, then he might take it out on the clan. I¡¯m not the young warrior I was in my younger years, Henry. I can¡¯t just act based on how I feel anymore. The King has summoned me, and I must go.¡± ¡°Master..¡± ¡°While I¡¯m gone, protect my wife and child. No one is to get near them, not even other members of the clan. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, Master.¡± ¡°Good. I¡¯ll leave tonight.¡± ¡­. Within the master bedroom of the main family residence, Uther and Elizabeth watch their child silently sleeping in a well-built crib beside their bed. ¡°Do you really have to go?¡± Elizabeth grips Uther¡¯s hand tightly. ¡°Yes, my dear. But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll definitely return. For the sake of you and Arthur, how could I disappear now?¡± ¡°I.. understand. But I swear Uther, if Malzar does something to you.. I will burn his entire palace with him in it to the ground.¡± She gives a fierce look, as if she can see the many she speaks of right in front of her. ¡°Haha, I don¡¯t doubt it, my dangerous little fire elf.¡± He pats her head, attempting to sooth her anger. A few moments of silence go by. ¡°... Please come back, Uther.¡± ¡°I promise I will, no matter what.¡± ¡­. A few days later, within the capital city of Pendragonia, Pendragon City, a carriage rolls in front of the Royal Palace. With solid gold gates and walls of elegant white marble. The palace towers of the rest of the city, like the house of a god. The door of the carriage opens, and Uther walks out, wearing more noble clothing of black and gold colors than what he wore a few days ago. The guards open the gates, and he walks inside, following the path up to the palace. ¡­. In a parlour room within the palace, Uther sits in a chair in front of a table decorated by two cups. Sitting across from him is another man, but his upper body is shrouded in darkness. A butler bends slightly, pouring tea into the two cups before moving away. ¡°Haha, Uther my dear friend, why the agitated look? Can I not call upon an old friend to chat?¡± The shadow shrouded man jests slightly, treating Uther like he is nothing more than prey. Uther¡¯s eyes flicker with a dangerous light, ¡°Surely my King has more important matters to occupy his time than to chat with a simple fellow like me. I just hope that there is something with which I can help that my King has called me for.¡± ¡°Haha, rightly so... I have an idea, how about I get you to tell me the reason. I¡¯ll even give you a hint. About a month ago my guards caught a¡­ rat, I would call it. They happened upon some curious information about a certain clan¡¯s activities. Go ahead, make a guess.¡± Malzar shows a cruel smile that is apparent even in the darkness, and it is made even more cruel due to his teeth being sharpened fangs. Uther knows what the man wants, but he has no intention of giving it to him. ¡°I have no idea what it could be, my King. Perhaps you could shed some light on my lack of knowledge.¡± ¡°Haha, right!¡± Malzar picks up his cup of tea and drinks slowly, his actions seeming to say that he has all the time in the world.. ¡°Well why don¡¯t I tell you a story I heard about this rat. This rat was surprisingly a clever one, afterall it was able to live in my palace and grow for so many years.¡± He motions to the butler with his hands, the butler moves towards a door and opens it. Out of the door walks a man with short white hair, a scarred face, and black clothing stained with blood. He drags another man by the neck behind him, just by a look one could tell this old man was barely alive, his body covered head to toe in gruesome wounds. Uther instantly knows who this man is, Lord Balthor. ¡°You see, this rat actually worked for me, and before me it worked for my father. I trusted this rat because it was also trusted by my father, I had very high faith that it would serve me well.. but I guess I was wrong. It turns out that this rat didn¡¯t like me as much as I thought. It began to collude with a rebellion behind my back, and it did very well in surviving for as long as it did, causing me manys problems. However it got cocky, and left out some papers it shouldn¡¯t have. These papers, while not giving as much information as I¡¯d hoped, were certainly helpful. But why stop there, right?¡± He stands up and moves towards Lord Balthor, grabbing his face by the chin and turning it towards Uther. The King moves his tongue slowly across his fangs. Lord Balthor¡¯s face is expressionless, even though he is without a doubt conscious. His eyes lack any life, however, as if he is no longer paying attention to the world. ¡°So, I had some special magic done, a few tricks to the brain, and I forced every little piece of information out of him that I could. You¡¯re quite clever I guess, seeing as he only knew the name of your clan and remained ignorant of any others¡­ but I highly doubt you Pyralis folk are the only ones at work. So tell me, Uther Pyralis, head of the Pyralis clan, keeper of lies and a traitor to me, THE KING, why I would summon you here.¡± As if to emphasize his last few words, he flexes his hand and crushes the head of Lord Balthor. Blood sprays across the room, landing near the feet of Uther. ¡°YOU DARE CALL YOURSELF A KING?! You sell your own people to the hands of those filthy human nobles! You let bandits and barbarians run across our lands, raping and pillaging without fear of the King that sits behind them! The people cry for saviors and yet no help comes as the king they trusted sells them out in front of their noses! You¡¯re no king, you¡¯re nothing more than a tyrant brat who¡¯s going to destroy this kingdom!¡± Uther¡¯s voice shakes the air in the room. As he rises from his chair, his imposing pressure unravels throughout the room, sending the butler and the white-haired man into unconsciousness. ¡°HAHA! YES! THATS THE FACE I WANTED TO SEE! HOW LOVELY, HOW FANTASTIC! Tell me Uther, where have you been these past few months, eh? I heard rumors you went on a trip to train or something, but I can¡¯t sense any break-through in you. Also I heard a rumor, you know.. a rumor about when you returned to Pyralis a few days ago with a newborn baby..¡± The Kings eyes become a murderous red while his pupils contract vertically like that of a dragons, flooding the room with his killing intent. Uther¡¯s face distorts in anger, ¡°Y-you¡­ YOU FIEND! ¡­ What do you want from me Malzar, do you really think you can handle me so easily? If so, then you¡¯re sorely mistaken!¡± ¡°Not so, my dear Uther. But let me ask you this, do you think you can make it back to your family before my men slaughter them? Do you think you can protect them from here? Do you think you can even escape from my palace alive? You should know fully well who is stronger between you and I.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°... What do you want?¡± ¡°Kneel. Kneel to me, as your King. Admit to your treason, and accept your name as a traitor. You will be publicly executed, and your clan will be outcast from the kingdom.. but at least they¡¯ll be alive.¡± The King smiles with delight at the thought of having Uther kneel before him. ¡°Y-you¡­. Then you must swear to me. Swear to me that you will not target my family. You will not have your soldiers hurt my clansmen, my wife, or my child. Not your soldiers nor assassins or mercenaries, not the clans under your control, or any third parties you influence. You must swear this to me. Then I will kneel.¡± ¡°I, Malzar Pendragon, swear upon my soul that, upon Uther Pyralis declaring his guilt of treason, I shall neither influence nor direct any man, beast, or monster, including myself, to act against any family or clansmen of Uther Pyralis from this moment forth. May the Great Elemental Lords bare witness to my oath, and should I ever break it, let them smite me for breaking this oath.¡± The King says while smiling, never looking away from Uther¡¯s gaze. Uther, hesitating for a moment, kneels to the ground. As he bows his head he says in a grave, monotone voice, ¡°I, Uther Pyralis, have plotted against the King. I have sought to overthrow and kill the King for my own goals, and have committed treason in doing so. May my punishment be served.¡± ¡°Good. Guards!¡± Guards come into the room, handcuffing Uther like they¡¯ve been ready for this the whole time. ¡°Take him to the cell.¡± ¡®¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯Yes, my King!¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯ The guards try to force Uther up, but a pressure knocks them all on their asses. He stands up himself, and walks out of the room, in the direction of the cell. After a few minutes of silence, ¡°To think, that I would be able to make the great Uther Pyralis, kneel to me. Truly this is a marvelous moment. Haha, good thing he didn¡¯t question the oath. I only swore that I wouldn¡¯t do anything from this moment onwards, I didn¡¯t say anything about orders I¡¯ve already given! AHAHAHAHA! Does he honestly think I¡¯m going to have mercy on his pitiful clan of cats, what a joke!¡± ¡­. Back in the Pyralis clan residence¡­ The woman is sitting beside a crib, watching her child sleep, ¡°Your father will be back in a few days, we¡¯ll get to introduce you to the clan then little Arthur.¡± She smiles thinking of the people here as well as her own clan back in the Elf-Forest Kingdom. The brown haired man from earlier is standing in the corner of the room, his presence completely undetectable except for those who know he exists. *BOOM* A loud crash is heard in the direction of the residence entrance, and sudden thundering of heavy feet can be heard. Both the woman and the man flash surprise, then immediately begin moving. Screams can be heard coming from the main hall, as the sound of swords slashing and the thundering feet draw closer. ¡°Henry, quick, go burn the office! Don¡¯t miss a single thing! Then follow me to the basement!¡± The brown haired man quickly dashes out of the room, the woman is already grabbing things from the room and tossing them in a pile. The child has woken up and cries in protest to the sudden noises that it doesn¡¯t recognize. The women opens a drawer and takes out a particular necklace and a ring. She wears the ring, and all of the things she gathered disappear. She pulls on a sling for carrying a baby, and stashes her son inside. Not even 10 seconds have gone by. Henry quickly reappears, ¡°It is done my Lady.¡± The woman nods, before pulling back a rug and dropping through a pitch black hole beneath it, followed by Henry shortly after. A small gust pulls the rug back over the hole. In the basement the woman and Henry appear, but there are already soldiers coming in from the doorway following other clansmen who have also run to the basement. She quickly runs through a portion of the wall that has been destroyed by other clansmen, delving into the hidden tunnels created for escaping. ¡°My lady go on ahead! I¡¯ll stop them from entering the tunnels!¡± Knowing it would be dangerous to have powerful enemies get near a tunnel with his master¡¯s wife inside. The woman doesn¡¯t hesitate at all, the most important thing to her right now is to get her son away. She¡¯s already running through the tunnels passing by the slower clansmen who are also fleeing from the residence. ¡­. Back in the basement Henry stands with his right arm raised in front of him holding a sword and his left arm at his side holding a dagger. Fur has grown all over his body, making him appear more like a beast than man. He glares dangerously at the soldiers and mages standing in front of him looking for anyone to lunge forward like the two idiots who are already lying dead on the floor with their heads rolling. The room has many boxes used for storage, creating a very cramped room, allowing very few opponents to get near Henry. But there are many enemies in the room, giving Henry very little room to move about, practically forcing him to stay where he is. A man with a more decorated set of armor with blood splattered across it walks in, observing the scene. ¡°Haaah. Looks like we ran into a troublesome cat.¡± He unsheathes a large sword, a longsword, and takes up a stance in front of Henry. ¡°Let me take care of this little house pet, eh?¡± The man charges forward, his longsword lashes out against Henry like a dragon whipping it¡¯s tail. Henry fully aware of the dangers of trying to block, rolls backwards and avoids the strength of the man. He lands on his feet in perfect position to pounce and blasts forward while twisting in mid air before the man can even redirect his blade, however, just before he can land his strike in the gaps of the man¡¯s armor, daggers fly at him with one of them connecting into his left shoulder. Henry¡¯s attack gets thrown off and his own dagger leaves a cut in the man¡¯s armor, forcing him backwards, but not penetrating through. Losing his full strength in his left arm, Henry curses himself, preparing to defend himself with his sword as he rolls on the ground into another pouncing position. However, right as he lands another soldier drives his sword into Henry¡¯s leg, anchoring him to the ground. He curses himself again, and this ridiculously small space with so many enemies. He was hoping he could move again, before these dimwitted soldiers would be able to act. ¡°Hoho, what a fast kitty.¡± The man not daring to hesitate against his opponent, swings his sword overhead to kill. Yet, Henry is already moving again, twisting his frame to cut the arms of the soldier who has pinned him and rolling out of the way. The man¡¯s sword smashes the ground where he was a moment ago, shaking the room as dirt falls through the ceiling. Even the soldier who was behind Henry, was cleaved in half right after having his arms cut off. Needless to say, he died instantly. Henry pulls the sword out of his leg, and uses his good leg to push himself away from the nearby soldiers who¡¯re also trying to land a hit on him. He crashes into some storage boxes, and quickly tries to regain his balance. ¡°Hmm, not only moves fast, but thinks fast as well. Should be about sev¡­¡± Before he can finish his sentence Henry has thrown his dagger, although not with as much strength as he could¡¯ve since his shoulder was injured, and the dagger cuts through the mans neck, barely missing his jugular. ¡°Tch¡­ Annoying cat. Die already!¡± The man charges again, his sword moving even faster this time drawing the air around it like it¡¯s trying suck everything around it into it¡¯s path to be cut. Henry, without the mobility to dodge, tries to deflect such a massive strength by angling his sword, but the cut goes completely through his blade, ignoring it¡¯s angle, and lands in Henry¡¯s side. Henry¡¯s right arm falls to the ground as blood gushes from his wound., flying to the side landing on his back a few feet from where he was, blood quickly puddles around his fallen body. ¡°Hoho, couldn¡¯t even cut all the way through.. Quick, mages, collapse that tunnel!¡± ¡®¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯Sir!¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯ As the mages move forward from behind the soldiers, and begin chanting magic. Henry watches the mages, with the light fading from his eyes, (Hopefully¡­ I gave her¡­ enough time¡­) ¡­. In the tunnel, the woman carrying the child is running as fast as she can to reach the exit. The tunnels begin to shake and she curses, the muscles in her leg already burning from the intense speed. Sections of the tunnel began collapsing behind her drawing closer every second. She flies through the exit just as an explosion of dirt and dust fly out behind her, as the tunnel has completely been collapsed. Yet just as she feels relieved, a new scene greets, causing her face to pale. Behind her, the city is in flames. Screams of women, children, and men drown the world in noise. Buildings collapse beneath the onslaught of the King¡¯s soldiers. In front of her are a dozen or so fellow clansmen lying mutilated and dead on the ground as soldiers walk over their corpses following a man dressed in a set of pitch black armor. This man has silky, black hair flowing down behind him; his eyes are blood red and contracted into a vertical shape like a dragons. He smiles with white fangs dyed red from the blood coating them. ¡°And so the Miss survives the tunnel, only to die to me.¡± The woman immediately bursts into flames that cover both her and her son, and begins to chant magic as she runs in a direction with little soldiers and away from that man. ¡°Stop her!¡± The man shouts as he lunges after her, clearly several times faster. Black scales grow around his legs and arms. His pitch black sword thrusts out, yet right as it¡¯s about the pierce her back through her heart, she leaps slightly. The blade pierces through her lower section, but misses her son. Yet she does not flinch or react to the pain, her entire concentration is directed on her spell and running away. Just as the man moves to follow up his missed strike, this one attempting to cut off her head, the flames covering her erupt into a devouring inferno releasing a dramatic shock wave from heating the area rapidly. The man is blown backwards and the soldiers scream in pain as flesh, metal, and everything else is melted. Like a rocket the woman shoots off through the soldiers, crashing through the surrounding terrain like an unstoppable arrow of fire¡­ headed straight for the wilderness. ¡­. The woman is running between the trees, her clothes torn and stained with her own blood. She has long ago run out of mana. She continues to hear shouts behind her followed by the barks of wolves. She knew that man wouldn¡¯t give up so easily. But she has not yet lost hope. For the sake of her child, she cannot afford to lose hope. She came from a notable elvish clan, but following her own will to be an adventurer led her to fall in love with Uther. Her clan spited her for following someone from such an ¡®inferior race¡¯, yet she did not care. Uther was worth more to her than her own clan. Although she loved her father, she knew he would understand her feelings even if her clan did not. Uther and Elizabeth wanted to have a child, but conception between an elf and a beastman is almost unheard of. Not because love between them was rare, but rather the conception between them is incredibly hard. But they did not lose hope, they wanted a child, and they had hopes that he would become a great person. After all, what parent doesn¡¯t hope for great things for their child? In order to conceive, they spent a great deal of effort to acquire a fire-heart crystal. Together, they travelled to the Plane of Fire, and asked a powerful elemental to bless their love. The elemental was known to the Pyralis clan for its affinity with feline creatures, and also because this was the same legendary elemental that had bonded with the hero from the stories, who was also of the cat-person race. Through a miracle, the elemental accepted their pleas, and took the fire-heart crystal as payment. With the aid of the elemental¡¯s fire of life, their conception was made possible. But there were even more benefits to conceiving a child in the Plane of Fire. The affinity the child would possess for the fire element would be enormous, and, since the Plane was constructed entirely out of mana and spirit energy, his senses for them would no doubt be high. The Pyralis clan was a clan with very little talent for magic. They had talent as warriors, but they lacked the talent for elemental affinity and mana control. To Uther, the child was a hope to become someone powerful enough to take over the clan. To bring the clan strength, and use that strength to save the kingdom of beastmen from the wretched-ness brought on by the past kings from the powerful Dragon clan. To Elizabeth, the child represented her love. Her love for the not only Uther but for all life itself. She wanted her child to be someone who could prove that love between elves and other races was not impossible. To her, her child was worth more to her than any treasure the world could give her. As she ran, she was quickly running out of options. Her only hope was that they would lose her in the darkness of the Eternal Night Forest, the most dangerous place near the borders of the Beast-Plain kingdom. This is when she decided, that because of the wolves following her scent, it would be hard for her to lose them. Even if she could outrun them because they needed to catch her changing directions, she could not run forever. She was no ranger or rogue, nor did she possess powerful illusion magic. She had no means to escape. Thus, near a river, she ran up to a massive tree with giant roots. She used a complicated fire spell to eat the earth underneath the roots, creating a small hole. She stored the necklace she took in the folds of the child¡¯s wrap, and then she placed him inside. The way she used her magic left no scorch marks on the tree or surrounding ground, nor any means to tell that there was a hole there unless they looked over the tops of the roots at specific angle. She used a low level sleeping spell to put the child to sleep so he would be quiet, and then she ran. She ran back in the direction of the wolves and that accursed man. She ran to catch their attention, while she pretended to still be carrying a child. She lured them away from that stream, and she ran. All the while she was crying; crying so hard her heart felt like it was being crushed by a mountain. She begged for forgiveness from her son, for abandoning him. She prayed to the Elemental Lords to give him a better fate, to spare his life. She damned herself for bringing such a misfortunate life on to her son only days after he had been born. All the while, she continued to run. Hoping for her son to be saved from this fate. Her figure fades into the dark forest as the continuous barks of wolves and cursing of men ring through the air. Mother In the Eternal Night Forest, there are a few tiger cubs playing around a small stream. These tiger cubs had white fur with light blue stripes running through it. They were just old enough to be allowed to run around and explore the world for their first day. All of a sudden, a mewling comes from a nearby tree. However, all the cubs were here, so they knew it couldn¡¯t be one of their own.. Curiously, one of the braver ones wandered towards it while the rest followed behind. As it got closer, crawling up on the giant roots of the tree, it found the small crevice and cave in which the mewling came from. Looking inside, the cub saw Arthur, bawling his eyes out. A sad cry, as though the child has been deeply wronged, yet it knows nothing of what has transpired. The only thing the child knew was that its mother was no where to be found, and that was a bad thing, a sad thing. The cub pushed it¡¯s towards Arthur, touching him. This caused Arthur to stop mewling and open his eyes¡­ He saw the cub, the cub saw him¡­ and they both looked at each other confused as to what the other was. The cub was suddenly lifted up by the back of its neck, and plopped onto the ground while it mewed in protest. The mother stood on its four legs and still reaching almost ten feet in height with pure blue flames coming off it¡¯s body. She looked like she could smash a large bull into meat paste with one swipe of her paw. This same mother looked in to the crevice and found Arthur. It observed, it sniffed, and it just simply stared. Arthur stared back, with the same confused look it gave the cub¡­ and then he reached out towards the mother tiger, once again mewling. You may think it odd, for a child to reach out to a tiger mother like its asking to be picked up, but to the current Arthur he could tell one thing. That was, that this tiger had a similar aura to that of the mother he knew. This tiger loved life just like his mother, and that was the only thing in this world Arthur could hold on to. Unexpectedly, the mother reached her paw into the crevice, claw extended¡­ and picked Arthur up by the wrap around him, placing him on the roots of the tree. Then she picked him up again by the wrap using her mouth this time, and carried him off into the forest..
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V1: C1: Young Tigers V1: Wild Child C1: Young Tigers Deep in the darkness of the Eternal Night Forest, a deer with moon white fur and black crystal antlers is grazing on the grass in a grove of trees. There is little light shining down through the trees, but its always impossible to tell whether its sunlight or moonlight. Due to how small they are, they dot the area above the ground like countless stars which follows along with the name of the forest. The majority of the light on the ground level comes from the bioluminescent mushrooms, moss, and flowers that grow along the ground. In a brush hidden away from the glow of the forest plants, a pair of golden eyes peeks through looking at the deer. There is no noise. Not even a detectable breath. Pure silence, only disturbed by the gentle chewing of the deer, the periodic chirping of insects, or caws of birds. The moment the deer brings its head down again to grab more grass to chew, a silent blur figure shoots out of the brush. The surroundings barely move, its as if they completely ignore the fact that the figure is even there. With a hand outstretched the shadow latches itself into the neck of the deer, and before it can even react to the pain another hand has already pierced behind its skull. It suddenly finds itself on its side laying on the ground already dead. Above the deer the shadow figure once again allows light to touch its form. With red, black-striped hair going down below his neck, two tiger-like ears on his head twitch slightly, a similar tail dancing excitedly behind him, and¡­ fur covering his hands slightly above his wrists, a small tuft in the middle of his chest, and his feet up to his ankles. His hands and feet have thin pads covering his palms and soles as well as short claws extending from his fingers and toes. At this moment the boy looks extremely¡­ feral. Yes, he looks feral. This is his feral form. Beastmen have what is known as their feral form, in which their beast blood empowers them, slightly changing how they look. For catpeople, they grow fur and gain claws on their hands and feet. The fur is not only fluffy, but it also serves as a small form of protection, the pads are also protective yet still extremely sensitive, and they also create very little noise when hitting something else. Their claws are dangerously sharp giving them natural weapons to attack with or allowing them to climb really well. Most Beastmen can¡¯t use their feral form until they¡¯re around 10 years old, due to the strain it puts on the body. And even when they can use it they can only use it for short periods of time, otherwise they¡¯ll suffer. But as the become accustomed to the strain, their body will adapt to it, and over time they¡¯ll be able to use it for longer periods of time and more of their body will change as well as increasing the effects of the change. If a catperson were to become extremely skilled at their feral form, they could even shapeshift entirely into the form of the feline beast. The figure, picks up the deer and carries it on his shoulders, then he dashes off into the dark forest once again. ¡­. When the child was first brought into the den by their mother, the other cub weren¡¯t really sure how to treat him. But as the mother set him down and the laid down in front of him, he begun sucking on her breasts and feeding, just like they had when they were newborn kits. This was when the brave cub, who first happened upon him, realized that this child was now part of their den, and was also younger than they were. So as he was adopted by the mother, he was also adopted by the cubs as their younger sibling. There were 4 cubs originally. The oldest was named Raksha; the second oldest was Bahina; Raja was the third; and Suri was the fourth. And¡­ as they had no way of knowing the name Arthur Pyralis, the mother named the child as Nova. The first few months were entertaining, as the cubs and the child would play together, and even though he was more human than beast in race he still played alongside the other cubs. But even though he grew alongside them, the fact that they were different races was still too apparent. Over the months, Nova realized he was different from the others, as they grew relatively fast compared to him. But he didn¡¯t think anything of it, as he was able to keep playing with them as much as he wanted, however when he was almost six months old that changed. At that time, Nova was only about a foot and three inches tall standing up, but the other cubs were about two feet and a half. Today was the day when the young cubs would be sent out into the forest and would have to begin learning to hunt from their mother, but when Nova tried to follow the cubs the mother pushed him back into the den. ¡°Not you, Nova. You¡¯re still too young.¡± Nova simply gazed at his mother with large round eyes trying to plead with his mother saying he didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Nova. You know that you and your brother and sisters are different. They grow faster than you, and are stronger than you. Even when you play together they have to be more gentle and control themselves so they don¡¯t hurt you. But please don¡¯t worry Nova, there will come a day when you too can hunt.¡± The mother says she leaves the den to watch over her cubs hunt. ¡°Just stay in the den until we return. I¡¯ll know if you leave, so don¡¯t even think about it, you understand?¡± ¡°....¡± ¡°Nova, do you understand?¡± Nova nods and with a crestfallen expression and tearing eyes as he turns to go back inside the den. ¡°..*sigh*.. Don¡¯t worry Nova, your day will come.¡± The mother disappears into the brush after her cubs. ¡­. When the cubs returned, only Raksha and Bahina returned with prey in their mouths. Raksha had caught a small, black snake while Bahina had caught a dark brown squirrel that had two tails. They were small prey, but for these young cubs they were currently their greatest trophies. Nova saw them as they returned to the den with happy expressions except for Raja and Suri who seemed upset at their own shortcomings. With her cubs gathered in the den the mother observed their expressions, ¡°Raja, Suri, don¡¯t let today¡¯s hunt depress you. There are some days where even I don¡¯t catch prey. Today Raksha and Bahina both had luck, not many catch prey on their first day either. But know this, even the weakest of beasts can become more powerful than any other as long as their will is strong and they work hard. That means you too Nova. You may be weak now, but if you work hard I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll become even more ferocious your brothers and sisters.¡± Nova was stunned at her words, although he was still young and didn¡¯t understand much, he knew that his siblings were much stronger than he is. How could he possibly ever catch up to them? But his mother wouldn¡¯t lie to him¡­ maybe he¡¯s not working hard enough, he thought. Maybe he played too much, and didn¡¯t think enough about what he needs to do to be strong like his brothers and sisters. The other cubs looked at Nova and his worried expression, then saw him give a fierce, determined look. Bahina, who was the same brave cub who discovered him, put her paw on top of his head, ¡°Haha, I won¡¯t ever let Lil Nova surpass me. Don¡¯t worry Nova, Big sis will protect you okay?¡± Hearing this challenge, Nova felt he had to protect his pride so he moved out of Bahina¡¯s paw and bit her arm. Although, not even 6 months old, he wasn¡¯t strong enough to break through Bahina¡¯s fur with his teeth. ¡°Ahhh! When did Lil Nova get so ferocious!¡± The other cubs laughed at Bahina being attacked by Nova. Bahina had a strong affection for Nova, like that of an older sister taking care of her younger brother. What Raksha had asked her why this was, she mumbled something about how couldn¡¯t she want to protect such a cute little brother¡­ Since that day, Nova began to do his best at improving himself. He mimicked what he saw his brother and sisters do when they hunt, and he learned the skills that their mother taught them alongside them. Even when their mother taught them a special trait related to monsters with a high fire affinity called Soul-Fire, he didn¡¯t give in. It only took his brothers and sisters two months to learn it, but for him it took a full year. Even though he didn¡¯t have the natural talent that his brother¡¯s and sister¡¯s did and couldn¡¯t keep up with how fast they grew, he was still persistent in growing stronger. Even if it was only a little bit a day, he did his best to catch up to his siblings. What Nova didn¡¯t understand was that for such a young child he was already ridiculously strong. A complete monster really. ¡­. The cub¡¯s mother is actually a very rare species of tiger within the monster races known as the Azure Tiger, and very little is known about them. With a moon-white color and pale blue stripes the fur of these Azure Tigers is considered an extremely valuable treasure. Not only do people consider it look good, their fur and hide are extremely tough making them to be fashionable choices in armor. The Eternal Night Forest is not a known home to Azure Tigers, well, there isn¡¯t a known home for them at all actually. However, they haven¡¯t been seen in the Eternal Night Forest by those who have travelled through it. The mother¡¯s den is in an area of the forest where adventurers haven¡¯t visited for a very long time, and because of the presence her power presses into the surrounding, very rarely would a monster step into the territory she claimed. Mostly due to the fact that monsters in this forest can¡¯t even compare to her. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Due to these facts, there area she chose to raise her cubs is extremely safe, allowing them to grow and learn well. When Nova was roughly a year and four months old, he and cubs were playing about in the forest. They often enjoyed exploring and wandering about the forest while harassing creatures as they went. Currently Suri was teasing Nova about his clumsiness as he had tripped over a small root hiding the grass. Raksha, who was dutily observing the surroundings noticed something dash out of a bush nearby to move away from them. The creature he saw was not something he was familiar with.. ¡°Suri! Leave Lil Nova alone! Have you forgotten about the time when slipped on a rock into the river-¡± During Bahina¡¯s protest, Raksha cut in, ¡°Something just ran off that way, I¡¯m going to chase it!¡± And without even waiting, Raksha ran off doing exactly what he said he would do. Raksha loves to hunt more than anything, so as long as there was something to chase, he would chase it. ¡°Ah, Raksha! Mom said not to split up!¡± Raja yells while chasing after Raksha, leaving Bahina, Suri, and Nova behind. ¡°Ehh, well, wouldn¡¯t want to be left out.¡± Suri too chases after them followed by Bahina and Nova. When Suri, Bahina, and Nova catch up the appear in a small clearing where Raksha and Raja have surrounded a small white creature at the base of a tree. The creature is known as a Moon Rabbit is regarded as a difficult monster because of its incredible agility. Arriving just now, the three of them get to witness Raksha pouncing at the rabbit, and the rabbit jumping up and landing on Raksha¡¯s head, using it as a springboard to escape from them. The force of the jump slams Raksha¡¯s head into the ground, forcing him to eat dirt. ¡°*puh* ah! grossh!¡± Raja chases after the rabbit which is now running towards the three at the edge of the clearing, Suri lunges straight in front of the rabbit expecting them to collide where she can sink her teeth into¡­ but the rabbit suddenly leaps up causing Raja and Suri to smash into each others face causing them to go dizzy. The rabbit stands to the side of Raja and Suri seeming to be laughing at the two young cubs who fell for its prank. Seeing how his Raksha, Raja, and Suri all failed Nova suddenly has the desire to be the one to catch the rabbit so he can show off. Nova¡¯s hands grow small amounts of fur covering up a bit of hands enough for him to grow short claws, and he runs after the rabbit. The rabbit seeing Nova gets another idea, it runs to a nearby tree and using it¡¯s legs jumps up on to one of the lower branches and taunts Nova. Nova¡­ well, he¡¯s still a child. He begins using his claws to climb up the tree after the rabbit when Bahina figures out what¡¯s going on, ¡°Ah! Lil Nova! Wait! Come back down!¡± But he ignores her plight as he reaches the branch, and steadies himself on the branch. Although this is a low branch for the trees in the forest, its still a good 30 feet above the ground. The rabbit while just sitting there taunting Nova, allows him to draw closer, then just as he pounces at it, the rabbit drops down from the branch. Seeing his prey suddenly disappear, looks down, and sees the great distance from the branch to the ground.. He instantly digs his claws into the branch as he looks down scared out of his mind. At this point the rabbit is laughing while rolling on the ground, however it has yet to realize the true danger amongst the group of cubs. And it has already provoked this danger. Bahina is staring daggers at this laughing rabbit, ¡°You dare play your stupid tricks on my Nova?!¡± Bahina is suddenly standing above the rabbit with her claws rapidly heading for it¡¯s body, but¡­ the rabbit is still too much for these young cubs. He jumps out of the way, and lands a kick on Bahina¡¯s side which launches her a few feet into the ground. Having enough of taunting these cubs, the rabbit flees quickly knowing the mother could be nearby. Bahina had to spend the next two hours trying to get Nova unstuck from the tree and bringing him down... ¡­. When the cubs were two years old, their bodies had grown to be about five feet in height while standing on their four limbs. This was the time when a cub would have to complete a sort of rite of passage in which it would for the first time, hunt something larger than itself. Once the rite of passage was completed they would be considered a young tiger, and would be allowed to live by themselves within the forest. To do so, the cubs would have to head out of their mother¡¯s territory to actually find a monster bigger than themselves to kill. The first to succeed was Bahina, although she was reluctant to part from Nova, her mother ended up throwing her out of the den to get her to leave. Next was Raksha, who was excited from discovering how many monsters there were to hunt, and left as soon as his mother let him. Raja and Suri finished at the same time. They had a small sense of rivalry between them since they were born, when they ended up completing the rival at the same time both of them were in a sour mood. Although they would living by themselves from now on, their mother did not allow them to leave the forest or wander too far. As they still needed to grow their own strength so they would be able to protect themselves from the dangers of the world. In the end only Nova was left behind, once again. His mother knew the fact that Nova needed more time to grow as he was catperson, so she knew the limits she should have when raising him, but this still caused him to feel like there was a barrier between him and his siblings because of this. A barrier that he was determined to bring down no matter what, and so he continued to push himself for another two years in the den while his mother watched over his growth. ¡­. Returning the present time; Nova returns to the den, carrying the large deer behind him, his face full of smiles and pride. He was no longer in his feral form, and he had the necklace that was left behind with him when his mother found him. His mother looked at him lovingly, and very proud. Although she was a tigress, and a monster species at that, she knew fully well how abnormal it was for Nova, a four year old humanoid, to be able to move like he did. Nova had completely mastered everything his mother taught him, the only thing holding him back was the own limits his young body placed on him. She had made sure to wait until his body would be capable of actually carrying out the skills with enough strength and agility to use them in a hunt. Seeing him now, full of pride in himself, completing his first hunt of a beast bigger than himself, and excited to finally be able to go live solo¡­ She felt kind of reluctant to let him go. She didn¡¯t know why, but she was really attached to Nova. She would never admit that he¡¯s her favorite though. That would be unfair, right? As he set the deer down in the den, he ran up and looked at his mother expectantly, waiting for her praise. His mother, not saying anything, began licking him head toe¡­ she suddenly started cleaning him. ¡°Ahhh! Mom! I¡¯m not even dirty!¡± Nova began resisting, struggling to get away. But his strength couldn¡¯t really compare with his mom¡¯s. ¡°Nonsense, you have blood all over you from your hunt. Stay still, Nova.¡± ¡°..uuu, Mom¡­ why¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean, why? Because you¡¯re my son, that¡¯s why. Mother¡¯s have to make sure their cubs stay clean.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a cub anymore! I finished my hunt! I should be a tiger like you now, right?!¡± ¡°Nnn¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°Mom! You promised me!¡± ¡°Ahhh, fine. We¡¯ll eat this deer you caught for dinner, then when we wake tomorrow you can set off..¡± Even though she gave, she didn¡¯t stop cuddling with him and licking him. Nova began being lulled to sleep by his mother until he finally fell asleep in her embrace. (Huhu.. Success. I¡¯ll have to make the most of the time I have left with my Nova..) ¡­. The next day Nova and his mom were standing outside the entrance to the den, and they embraced each other before Nova finally set off to go find his place to live solo. To live out in the wild, away from home! (To normal people he would already have been considered living in the wild¡­) To live like his brothers and sisters, he was getting closer and closer to them. Although he wouldn¡¯t see them as much as before, they would always be brothers and sisters. Dashing through the forest seemingly un-effected by the dark, he makes his way deeper into the forest. As he makes his way, in the lower branches above him, two bright blue eyes are watching him go by. They watch him like the eyes of a predator excited to catch their prey, and the figure dashes along behind him. Completely undetectable, making use of the terrain to move as silently as possible. It stalks behind him...
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V1: C2: Adventurers Hey guys! Chapter 2 is delivered, but before you read it I have something to say. If you read Chapter 1 earlier, and are now here for Chapter 2, you might want to go back and reread Chapter 1. I rewrote some parts of the prologue and chapter 1, but nothing story wise has changed. Chapter 1 however has an additional little short story in it now that you''ll want to read for some context in Chapter 2. Also, I changed the name of the FF from Elementia to Nova, there''s a reason, but you don''t really need to worry about that right now :P. Well, that''s all I have to say, so please enjoy :). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ V1: Wild Child C2: Adventurers One thing to note about the Eternal Night Forest is that it is not only famous for being the most dangerous place that borders the Beast-Plain Kingdom, Pendragonia, but it is also famous amongst adventurers for the dungeon known as Shadow Deep. (The names of the kingdoms are often called after the clan that is currently in rule.) As such, there are often many adventurers who travel through the southern trails until they reach the mountain deep within the western regions of the forest where the entrance to Shadow Deep is. One such group of adventurers is currently traveling through the forest, headed back to the borders of Pendragonia. In this world there are many different skilled and talented adventurers, and very few of them are ever the same. Among this group of adventurers are two males and three females. There is Amber, who is of the bear-people race from the North-Western Forests in Pendragonia. With soft, tan-brown hair and amber eyes like her name she carries a massive, two-handed battleaxe. The only thing more dangerous that her battleaxe would probably be her two massive weapons she has on her chest. Amber is what is known as a berserker, a melee proficient fighter who use massive strength to crush their foes. Next to her is Anna, the human knight. Anna has black hair and black eyes, seeming to blend into the dark atmosphere of the forest. If it weren¡¯t for the metallic gleam of her steel armor she would hardly be noticeable. She carries a sword and shield on her back that are currently in worn shape from previous battles. Behind the two of them is Anderson and Muiredon. Anderson is from the Avian race, and he is a bard. Bards are a type of support wizard which use music to channel mana into their surroundings creating various effects. Unlike other beastman races, the Avian race are actually monsters that are extremely human in nature. If you look at Anderson, he has the head of a bird, beak and all. His arms have wings on their underside, and his legs are that of birds too. His feathers are black, while his tummy feathers are white. He carries a guitar on his back, as he seems to hum while walking casually. Muiredon is a dwarf, standing only about three and half feet in height. He carries a simple mace at his side, and wears a gray robe while carrying a backpack with herbs and medicines. He is a cleric who specializes in light magic, specifically the healing class of light magic. He carries the standard features of a dwarf with brown hair and brown eyes and the always important, giant beard to put all the men of other races to shame. Then, at the very back, is Leilatha. She is an elf, and a hunter. She wears black leather and keeps her hair tied up and covered with a black hood. The reason for that is because he hair is blonde, so it makes a challenge when trying to stay hidden in the dark. She has blue eyes and the noticeable beauty of the elven race. As she is in charge of rear-guard she is always on alert to their surroundings, her eyes always focused on the movements of the forest. Next to her is her companion who is a black wolf with red eyes. He is a monster species wolf known as Night Hounds. All five of them are quite relaxed, happy that they¡¯ve successfully achieved results in their exploration of Shadow Deep. They¡¯re currently on their way back to the Adventurer¡¯s Outpost, which is on the borders of Pendragonia and the Eternal Night Forest. Adventurer¡¯s Outposts exist all over the humanoid kingdoms as places where adventurers gather before they delve off into the unknown wilderness to fight monsters or explore dungeons. These outposts are managed by the famous Adventurer¡¯s Guild, which organizes all the recognized adventurers in all the kingdoms. As they¡¯re walking, only about a fourth of the way back to the border¡­ suddenly a figure shoots out of the side of the brush in front of them, and then disappears into the brush in the other side. Not even half a second later, another figure does the same. ¡°....¡± ¡°Did you guys see that rabbit?¡± Anderson is the first to speak. ¡°....¡± ¡°What about that naked cat-person child chasing it?¡± He tries again. ¡°....¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t look that old you know.. could be lost..¡± (Someone¡¯s gotta do something eventually¡­) ¡°*sigh* Let¡¯s go save the brat before he hurts himself.¡± Anna finally reacts to the situation, and the rest of the party runs behind her as they run in the direction that the figures disappeared in. ¡­. Just a few minutes earlier in another area of the forest, Nova is at a small pond having a drink and relaxing. As he enjoys the calm environment around him, a brush nearby starts to be disturbed. A small moon-white rabbit appears from within, and catches Nova¡¯s attention. Nova stares¡­ his mind completely blank¡­ and then it clicks. ¡°AH! ITS YOU!¡± The rabbit already realized who Nova is, after all, there''s not that many cat-children in the forest. The rabbit laughs as it remembers the time it tricked Nova into climbing up a tree. ¡°You damn rabbit! You¡¯re not getting away this time!¡± Nova quickly activates his feral form and pounces as the rabbit, but the rabbit simply jumps out of the way before he can reach him. The rabbit shakes its ass in front of Nova, taunting him, before it runs off into the forest. Nova really doesn¡¯t know how to handle being teased well, so he speeds after the rabbit. The rabbit was shocked at how fast Nova caught up to him, so he had no choice but to speed, but this was only followed by Nova speeding up too. The next few minutes are followed by Nova and the rabbit speeding up until what was once a chase turned into a full on race to see who could go faster. This was around the time when Nova and the rabbit flew by in front of the group of adventurers, not paying them any mind. ¡­. The group of adventurers are running through the forest, following the obvious trails the rabbit and kid are leaving. Apparently they¡¯re running so hard they completely forgot to even hide their tracks. ¡°I wonder how old that kid is, he runs pretty fast. I did hear people of the cat race were pretty fast.¡± Anderson says nonchalantly as he is simply flying next to the group. ¡°*Huff* Forget *huff* fast *huff* this speed is insane. *huff* If I *huff* wasn¡¯t carrying so much *huff* maybe I would¡¯ve caught up *huff* by now.¡± It¡¯s quite obvious Amber is having a hard time. But not many others are doing any better. They are all carrying all their loot they gathered from the dungeon, which is weighing them down quite a bit. After about half a minute later of running, they suddenly spot Nova who laying down on the ground in a grove of grass in between a group of trees, breathing heavily. Next to him is a rabbit which is flexing its arms and cheering above Nova in victory. Anderson flies up and chases the rabbit away from Nova, and lands down beside him. ¡°Hmm, you okay kid?¡± Nova simply looks up at Anderson, with a confused face as he¡¯s still trying to catch his breath. In this time Amber, Anna, Muiredon, and Leilatha all have gathered around Nova too, and stare at him. (Who are these people? Some of them kinda look similar to me¡­ but that bird is really weird. I¡¯ve never seen such a big bird. Hm, some of them are suddenly giving me weird looks¡­) Suddenly Amber, Anna, and Leilatha all squeal at the same time, ¡°¡±¡±SO CUTE!!!!¡±¡±¡± and the scoop Nova up and begin cuddling him. Nova, with what little energy he has left in him, tries to escape from his fate of being suffocated in their bosoms¡­ ¡°Haha, lucky kid.¡± Anderson can only chuckle at the reactions of these ladies. Suddenly, in the branches above them, a noise shakes the air, ¡°ROOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!!¡± ¡­. In the time following from when Bahina left to live on her own to the point where Nova would be able to do the same, Bahina had tried many times to come see Nova. But each time their Mom would chase Bahina away without Nova knowing. Over time Bahina had been quite depressed, and missed Nova dearly. She held on to the hope that one day he would be able to leave the den as well, and then she would just have to find a way for them to live together... (HNNG, patience Bahina. Just a few more moments and Nova will finally be free. I can¡¯t believe Mom wouldn¡¯t even let me visit him¡­ That old hag probably wanted to hog him all to herself. Haha, just you wait, as soon as he leaves your den he will belong to me! Ah! There he is! Yes¡­ say your goodbyes to Nova dear Mother, for soon you won¡¯t be able to stop me anymore!) After Nova left the den, he began running westward into the forest, and Bahina followed behind in the lower branches of the trees, making sure to hide her presence as best as possible. In the following hours, she was quietly thinking of plan in which she could convince Nova to live together with her in the forest, but as she was doing so she saw a rabbit appear next to him while he was resting by a pond. (Hmm, isn¡¯t that¡­?) But while she was thinking, the rabbit and Nova suddenly dashed off into the forest. (Ah! Wait for me Nova!!) After she got lost a couple times, and fell from the branches once, she finally caught up to Nova. But what she saw wasn¡¯t something she was expecting.. (Huh? Who¡¯re they, is Nova in trouble? They don¡¯t seem to be threatening him¡­ wait a second¡­ why do some of them smell like they¡¯re aroused?! AH! They¡¯re cuddling with my Nova! THEY¡¯RE THIEVES!) ¡°ROOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!!¡± Bahina leaps from the branches towards the group of adventurers near Nova. The adventurers suddenly leap back, Anna and Amber have drawn their weapons while Leilatha is holding on to Nova. Anderson and Muiredon jumped off to the sides, out of the combat. ¡°Whoa! Isn¡¯t that an Azure Tiger? I never heard of them living in this forest. It¡¯s still young, so we should be able to defeat it. Anderson back me up, I¡¯m going to charge it.¡± Anna has already begun analyzing their attacker, while the rest prepare to follow up her charge. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. However Nova, has already noticed Bahina as well as the aggression the people are directing at her. (These people¡­ they want to hurt Bahina!) He quickly pushes his way out of Leilatha¡¯s arms, and dashes past Anna who has yet to charge. ¡°¡±AH! Little boy, no! It¡¯s dangerous!¡±¡± They both scream, but hes already drawn too close before they can react. Images of the boy being ripped apart flash through their minds, and they all cringe slightly in expectation¡­ but unexpectedly.. the boy and the tiger are hugging. The boy is clinging to the Azure Tiger¡¯s neck, a highly dangerous monster, and is glaring daggers at Anna like she is the one who did something wrong. ¡°W-wha¡­ What the hell? I-I don¡¯t even¡­¡± She is completely at a loss for what is happening. Leilatha¡¯s companion begins trying to explain the situation to her through their mental link, *Miss, I believe the Azure Tiger and child know each other. It seems the Tiger is called Bahina while the child is called Nova.* *Boris are you saying that this child has tamed that Azure Tiger? That¡¯s impossible!* Leilatha simply can¡¯t fathom that a young child would be able to subdue such a monster to be its companion. *No Miss, they simply know each other. There is no magical bond between the two.* ¡°Ah¡­ Uhm, Anna, Amber, it appears that this tiger and child are related to each other. Boris explained to me that, but they don¡¯t appear to bound to one another. The child is called Nova¡± ¡°Uhn.. Is that so..¡± Even with that information Anna is still unsure as what to do. Leilatha tries approaching the child and tiger with her hands in front of her in a peaceful manner, ¡°Hey there Nova, we¡¯re sorry for acting so aggressively. Your friend simply surprised us is all, would you um, mind calming down a bit?¡± But.. Nova simply looks at her with a confused gaze. *Miss, the child was speaking in monster language, maybe he doesn¡¯t know common.* Boris adds on. *WHAT?! MONSTER LANGUAGE?! Don¡¯t be ridiculous Boris, thats impossible.* *But Miss.. it¡¯s true. Here, let me try communicating with them.* Boris walks past Leilatha, and begins speaking in monster language. Monster language is different from the known humanoid languages as it is done entirely through one¡¯s mental aura. Sort of like morse code, they send pulses of their aura outward in a form of communication. ¡°My Miss wishes to apologize for being so aggressive, but since you attacked first it was justified. My Miss is willing to forget this event, and wishes to befriend you.¡± Boris simply relays his master¡¯s wishes, but he doubts that for a tiger who attacked not so long ago to have any intention of cooperating. ¡°Ah, okay.¡± Nova replies, before calming down. He nods as he understands, and Bahina follows Nova¡¯s attitude. However, she is still nervous about letting those three ladies get near Nova again. Boris is briefly stupefied at such a quick, simple response forgetting he¡¯s supposed to be negotiating with them. *Boris, what¡¯d he say.* *Ahh, Miss, he said he understands that we mean no harm.* *Good! Ask him where his parents are, we need to know where we should be taking him.* ¡°My Miss wishes to know where your parents are, this forest is far too dangerous so they want to escort you back to your village.¡± ¡°Hmm? My mom lives to east in the forest, but I¡¯m not supposed to return.¡± ¡°W-what? What do you mean you¡¯re not supposed to return? And in the forest? Just who is your mother?¡± ¡°My mom is a really strong tiger, even stronger than Bahina. And yeah, she lives in the forest? I completed my rite of passage though, so I¡¯m to live on my own now. Well, supposed to¡­ I think Bahina has plans to harass me though¡­¡± ¡°Guhu¡­ Big sisters have to look out for their little brothers, just imagine what those women would¡¯ve done to you if I hadn¡¯t interfered.¡± Bahina tries to build her defense, maybe this is the opportunity she was looking for to convince Nova. ¡°Yeah right, you¡¯re planning to cuddle me just like they were aren¡¯t you!¡± Defense crushed. ¡°Ahh¡­ Nova.. you¡¯re mistaken.. maybe.. just a little bit.. don¡¯t say you don¡¯t like it..¡± She tries to bring Nova into her embrace.. *Smack* Nova hits on the head, and escapes the trap. All the while Boris is just sitting there not knowing what to say¡­ *Ehem.. Miss. It appears that this child was raised alongside the tiger. They consider themselves brother and sister and both of them were raised by another Azure Tiger that lives east of here. But he says he¡¯s supposed to live on his own now, sort of like when a tiger comes of age it leaves the den.* *... Holy cow. You¡¯re saying this child was raised by an Azure Tiger? And he¡¯s lived in this forest his whole life then? NNN.. what to do¡­* Leilatha begins explaining everything to the rest of the group, and they all show the same shocked expressions that she had. Truly the weirdest circumstances that came out of nowhere. ¡°Still though¡­ We can¡¯t just leave him here¡­¡± (Anna) ¡°Yeah, but he¡¯s been living in the forest. Plus look at that Azure Tiger, it could probably kill any other monster in this forest even at its young age.¡± (Anderson) ¡°Not to mention he doesn¡¯t have any real parents in the villages, you guys know what would happen if we took an orphan into Pendragonia and left him there..¡± (Amber) ¡°Truly would be a fate worse than death for the lad, I heavily argue against it.¡± (Muiredon) ¡°Maybe we could take him with us to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, surely they could find a good place for him.¡± (Leilatha) ¡°That might be the best bet, but you¡¯re all forgetting something. What about the boy¡¯s opinion? Shouldn¡¯t we ask him if he wants to leave?¡± (Anderson) ¡°What are you saying Anderson? I don¡¯t care if he was raised in the forest, there are far too many dangers in the wilderness. We¡¯re not leaving him here.¡± (Anna) ¡°Let me see if I can convince him to come with us first.¡± (Leilatha) *Boris can you ask Nova if he would be willing to come with us? We¡¯re going to take him to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild¡­ Tell him we¡¯ll give him some delicious food if he comes with us.* *Miss you really think he¡¯s going to follow you for food? He¡¯s not a house pet cat. I guess I¡¯ll try.* ¡°My Miss would like to know if you would be willing to follow her, she says if you do she will give you delicious food if you agree.¡± (Haah, I wonder what she¡¯ll come up with next to coerce him..) ¡°Ok! Sounds fun!¡± ¡°....¡± *Miss he agreed.* ¡°Haha, Nova has agreed to come with us to the Adventurers Guild. Mission Success!¡± (Leilatha) ¡°Seriously? So fast? How on earth did you manage that?¡± (Anderson) ¡°Haha, it was easy. Amber, make sure you cook lots of food for Nova okay?¡± (Leilatha) ¡°Ooo, so the little tiger wants to eat my food. Hnnn, I can¡¯t wait to feed him, ehehe.¡± (Amber) *Grrrr* (Bahina) ¡­. In the dark forest, the group of adventures, Nova, and Bahina are gathered around a campfire in an area between the trees. Nova is sitting in Leilatha¡¯s lap as Anna and Amber are sitting on each side of her. They tried to use a blanket as make shift clothes for him, but he wouldn''t wear them, however they managed to convince him to at least use a bit of them as shorts. ¡°Here here Little Nova, open wide, aahhnn¡­¡± Amber holds up a piece of roasted meat in front of Nova, he quickly bites into it without hesitating. ¡°Haha, so cute¡­¡± On the other side of the campfire, Anderson is playing his guitar and singing ballads cheerily. Earlier when he began playing Nova was staring at him in amazement, clearly seeing this young kid enjoying his music so much made him a little bit happier that they decided to take him with them. Muiredon on the other hand has begun his nightly drinking of dwarven ale that he carries with him every time they go to dungeons, but don''t underestimate him, even if he was incredibly drunk he could still heal like it was nobodies business. Muiredon even tried to give Nova some ale, but he was quickly reprimanded by the girls. Meanwhile Bahina is in the background eating raw meat from a deer she caught as she glares at the three women. She originally tried to protest, but ever since Nova tasted the cooked meat he¡¯s been completely mesmerized by it. (Hnn.. I want to feed Nova too.. damn these women corrupting his tastes.. ) Later that night when everyone was going to bed there was a fierce fight between the girls and Bahina, as the adventurers wanted to cuddle with Nova, but Bahina wasn''t willing to let this fly. She felt she already gave up too much ground by letting them feed Nova, but to go so far as to cuddle with him in their sleep? Impossible. Never. Over her dead body. In the end, Nova just ended up walking over to Bahina and falling asleep as he leaned against her fur. The girls had to give up, at the sight of him sleeping was too cute for them to disturb with their own selfish desires. Bahina was elated, thinking she had won a great battle. .... In the trees far above where the adventurers are camping, a solitary figure is looking down at them. A figure with pure white fur with azure stripes; with flames burning strongly from as if the stripes are trying to free themselves from the white fur. The mother of the cubs stands, but no longer is she only ten feet tall. Right now, she is standing almost thirty feet in height, and her flames are blazing much fiercer than earlier. As Nova is sleeping, he rustles a bit beneath Bahina¡¯s embrace. His mother¡¯s voice intrudes upon his dreams.. ¡°Grow strong Nova, the world is much bigger than this forest, and unfortunately I can¡¯t teach you the strength that your kind truly possesses. Keep Bahina at your side, she¡¯ll be able to protect you until you¡¯re strong enough.. I truly hope we meet again..¡± Without even so much as a movement of wind or sound, she disappears from the forest, returning to the wilderness from where she came.
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V1: C3: The First Day Hola readers! I''m excited to see everybody is enjoying it so far ^^. For those of you who have already read Ch2, I did a small update to it. The first thing is, I changed Adventurer''s Guild to Adventurer''s Enclave, the reason will become clear in another chapter where I begin going over how the Adventurer System works. The second thing is a small script that was added to the end of Ch2 about Nova/Bahina''s Mother. You may or may not find it interesting, but I added it as a sort of closer so that she doesn''t simply disappear from the story without a word at the end. Welp, here begins Nova''s adventures with the adventurers, I hope you guys enjoy it ;). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V1: Wild Child C3: The First Day For the next week the adventurers escorted Nova out of the Eternal Night Forest. In actuality, they could have gone faster, but... there were too many circumstances where Nova would run around causing trouble. If there was one thing they learned about Nova this week that would be, never underestimate his curiosity. ¡­. On the morning of the first day, Anderson wakes up from his sleep and stretches his arms. His wings spread fully showing their beautiful pattern of white and black feathers on their undersides. ¡°*Yawn* Mmm, Good morning world, or should it be night? It is the Eternal Night Forest after all. Eheh, hey you gu-...¡± As Anderson looks around the campsite, every single one of the adventurer¡¯s packs have been emptied of their belongings and are tossed around the camp. Currently Nova is laying on ground holding on to a vial he took from Muiredon¡¯s pack, his face is a sickly green. ¡°OY! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO KID?!¡± The first day was probably the worst it could¡¯ve been for these adventurers. When they woke up, practically all of their gear had been taken out of their backpacks and thrown all around the area. Meanwhile Nova was sitting there with potions he took out of Muiredon¡¯s pack, and ended up drinking a mild toxin from among them. (Anderson set up a defensive spell to keep monsters away from the campsite, so they never really felt the need to have a lookout while they were outside of the dungeon.) They had to spend a total of two hours picking up everything, and Muiredon had to treat Nova before they could break camp and begin traveling again. Since Leilatha was the only one who could effectively talk with Nova by using Boris, she ended up giving him a lecture for several hours on how its rude to go through other people¡¯s belongings and how dangerous it is to drink things he isn¡¯t familiar with. After these hours of lectures, they eventually decided to break for lunch. After lunch the adventurers would explore the surroundings a bit to see if they could find any valuable monsters to kill. Nova was left at the camp with Muiredon, since Muiredon wasn¡¯t really a fighter. Earlier Nova had saw Muiredon mixing a bunch of leaves, mushrooms, and other things together to replace the antidote and toxin that were used on him. And during this lunch break, he again saw Muiredon rummaging through his ingredients, checking his remaining stock and seeing what herbs he could gather nearby. Nova watched curiously from a few feet away, and ended up following Muiredon into the forest when he went to go collect herbs. Muiredon collected a few herbs here and there, then he turns around to look at Nova. Nova immediately darts behind a root to hide, but when he peeks over it, Muiredon is motioning him to come towards him. Muiredon begins showing Nova different herbs around the forest, and shows him how to pick them from the ground without damaging them. A few times he had to stop Nova from eating the herbs by whacking on the head. After about an hour or so of herb gathering they returned to the campsite, and Muiredon begins showing Nova different the herbs and shows him how to use a pestle and mortar to grind them. Then he boils the crushed herbs in a pot of water and mixes them together. The whole time Nova is very attentively watching and repeating everything Muiredon shows him. Muiredon then stops stirring, and takes out a small knife. He shows Nova the knife, and then makes a small cut on his left forearm where a small trickle of blood surges to the top of his skin. He then uses a ladle to scoop some of the potion from the pot, and pours it over the top of the wound. Within seconds the small wound closes as if it was never there. Nova stares wide-eyed at his arm. (Holy¡­ His arm healed just like that? I¡¯ve never seen something so amazing before, usually I just have to lick my wounds until they stop bleeding, but they take weeks before they close up like that. I wonder if it¡¯ll work on me?) Nova makes a cut on his arm, and mimics Muiredon by pouring the potion on his wound. (Wow! It really closed up just like that! This is amazing! But it still kinda hurts..) Leilatha, who has just returned from the forest, sees Nova cutting himself and pouring the potion on himself. ¡°Muiredon! What the hell do you think you¡¯re teaching him to do?!¡± ¡°Ah, no need ta worry lass. I just taught him some bits of potion making is all. Look at him, hes excited ain¡¯t he?¡± (Muiredon) ¡°So what if he¡¯s excited? He¡¯s just a child who doesn¡¯t know any better! What if it leaves a scar?!¡± (Leilatha) ¡°My potions would never leave a scar! And he¡¯s not a normal child either, is he? This boy picked up on the things I taught him easily! He¡¯s a natural at it I say, maybe I should take him as my apprentice..¡± (Muiredon) ¡°Haah? Your apprentice? Don¡¯t be ridiculous. Don¡¯t you see how that Azure Tiger follows him everywhere? I¡¯d say he¡¯s better off as a hunter, he should be my apprentice now that I think about it..¡± (Leilatha) By now Amber, Anna, and Anderson have also returned from looking for monsters in the forest. ¡°Hoho, Nova is looking for a master? He was quite enchanted by my music you know, I bet he has some hidden talents in him. Come here, Nova. I¡¯ll teach you the beautiful art of music, when you get older there¡¯ll be women lined up for miles to get a taste of you, haha.¡± (Anderson) ¡°Hah?! Just what do you think you¡¯re trying to teach him? Don¡¯t corrupt our Nova you nasty bird! Nova will grow up to be pure, and so he needs a pure master to teach him how to be a true gentlemen. I¡¯m obviously the best choice.¡± (Anna) ¡°Hmm, Nova is really strong for a young kid, I¡¯d say he¡¯s got a good future as a berserker if he trains right. Plus he loves my cooking, hmm, what do you say Nova? Want Amber to teach you? ¡­ When you grow older I can teach other things as well, hehe..¡± (Amber) ¡°¡±¡±¡±!!!!!¡±¡±¡±¡± Meanwhile, Nova is just watching everyone standing around him without a clue as to what¡¯s going on. (Did they get in a fight? I wonder what they¡¯re fighting about¡­ Sometimes they look at me with these strange expressions.. These people are really weird..I wonder what Bahina is up to, I¡¯ll go look for her.) In the middle of the battle, Nova sneaks off away from the group to go find Bahina. After several more minutes of arguing they finally notice Nova is no longer there.. ¡°Tsk, I¡¯ll have to teach my apprentice that running away when his master is protecting him is bad manners.¡± (Anderson) ¡°*sigh* Enough. Let¡¯s find out where he went, he¡¯s probably is looking for Bahina.¡± (Leilatha) ¡­. A few minutes away from the campsite, Bahina is stalking a creature shes never seen before. It looks like a lizard, but it¡¯s back is covered with spikes and the color of its scales is an ominous purple. Not to mention its almost 8 feet in length, something which could be considered bigger than herself and a good challenge. Suddenly Nova appears next to her, ¡°Bahina, what¡¯re you looking at?¡± ¡°Shh, Nova, I¡¯m hunting.¡± Nova tries to line up his gaze with that of Bahina¡¯s and he sees the lizard a few tens of feet away on the side of a tree. (What a big lizard¡­ It could probably put up a good fight against Bahina, but... I have a bad feeling about this.. Bahina should be fine though.. she¡¯s never lost before.) A moment later, Bahina¡¯s muscles tense up.. then she pounces, crossing the full distance between her and the lizard in an instant, with a single leap, she lands a heavy strike against the creatures back. The lizard cries in pain as it falls from the side of the tree, but it quickly gets back on its feet. There¡¯s blood coming from the claw marks on the lizard¡¯s back, but they¡¯re not deep enough to be fatal to it. (What thick skin¡­ It¡¯ll take a few more hits before I can get it weak enough to finish it..) One of the aspects that their mother had taught them was that when fighting an opponent that is close to your own strength or even stronger, never go for the kill outright. First weaken the opponent until it no longer has to strength to resist you, then kill it. If you were to go for the kill outright and fail without having any plans to get away, you could suffer a fatal injury from the opponents counter-attack. Bahina and the lizard are watching each other, each one ready to pounce or counter-attack at a moments notice.. Suddenly Bahina charges at the lizard as if she¡¯s going to strike, but just before she does she dashes diagonally to the right then behind the lizard, attacking it¡¯s backside. The lizard, failing to realize the feint in her attack, tries to strike at Bahina with it¡¯s tail before she gets away again, but she¡¯s already gone. However, Bahina isn¡¯t slowing down the pace as the goes again to land a hit on its backside. This time however, the lizard is already panicking and willing to seize any opportunity to drive it¡¯s enemy back. The lizard¡¯s spikes shoot out of it¡¯s back, spraying the area all around itself. Most of the spikes headed in Bahina¡¯s direction only glance off her fur, unable to penetrate, but a few of them land head on and force their way into her flesh. ¡°ROOARR!¡± Bahina let¡¯s out a cry of pain, with no choice to stop her assault. Blood has stained her white fur, but none of the spikes hit any vitals. She quickly charges the lizard, this time unleashing a flurry of attacks on its backside and killing it. ¡°Haah, I won. Ehehe, Lil Nova, Your big sis is amazing right? Eheh¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Mm, Yeah! Big Sis is really strong, you were moving so fast!¡± Nova runs out of the brush, up to Bahina, giving her a proud smile. ¡°But Sis¡¯ injuries.. I know! There¡¯s some liquid back at camp that the hairy man showed me how to make, I bet it could heal your wounds.¡± ¡°Ahh, good to know.. I feel.. kinda.. tired.. Ugh..¡± Bahina passes out in front of Nova, unable to move even an inch. ¡°Bahina!¡± (Whats wrong? These wounds aren¡¯t fatal.. Maybe its poison?! Mom said that most things with the color purple are poisonous, but to think it could deal poison from parts other than it¡¯s mouth?! I need to find the hairy man!) But as soon as Nova turns around, a terrifying sight greets him. On the trees behind him, another dozen or so lizards are climbing down while glaring at him and Bahina, bloodthirst oozing out from their auras. (Crap! I can¡¯t leave Bahina here¡­ But if I stay here, Bahina will die to the poison¡­ CRAP! WHAT DO I DO?!) ¡­. About thirty seconds later Anna, Amber, Anderson, and Leilatha are all running through the forest. Muiredon stayed behind to watch over the groups belongings. ¡°ROOAAAAARRRR!!¡± A roar comes out from the distance, but it seems faintly familiar.. ¡°Could that be Nova?! I have a bad feeling about this.. Let¡¯s go, quick!¡± Leilatha runs ahead of the rest of them as she can move the fastest thanks to her agility. Boris chases right next to her, and the rest run behind her. A few seconds later, they enter the area where Bahina had fought the lizard.. Bahina is lying on the ground with blood on her fur, Nova is standing in front of her. Fur is covering Nova halfway up his forearms, about half his chest, and half his calves on his legs. His eyes are completely bloodshot with golden irises moving rapidly to keep all the enemies in his sight. There are cuts all along his arms and chest, and a large bruise is appearing on his right side. He¡¯s breathing heavily, and sweat is pouring out all over his body. In front of him, the dozen lizards are glaring at him, inching closer. Two lizards are now lying dead on the ground, one near Bahina and another one in front of Nova. As Leilatha sees this, a lizard suddenly pounces at Nova from the right and hits him with its tail, sending him flying into the roots of a tree nearby, he simply doesn¡¯t have the speed to dodge. ¡°NOVA!¡± Leilatha leaps over the lizards and lands next to Nova. She checks his breathe, (He¡¯s still breathing, but he and Bahina are both probably already poisoned. Crap! We need to get them to Muiredon fast.. ) Nearby, a lizard is trying to take a bite out of the unconscious Bahina, but right as its about to chomp down an arrow blasts a hole right through the top of its mouth. ¡°Say your prayers, you damned reptiles.¡± Leilatha has drawn her bow, and is prepared to take swift vengeance. Anna, Anderson, and Amber all appear from the sidelines, with a single glance they¡¯ve understood the situation. One of the first things adventurers learn is that they have to be able to adapt to all situations with a single glance, otherwise they could be the ones who end up dead from analyzing for too long. Anna immediately unsheathes her sword and flips her shield on to her arm. ¡°You¡¯ll regret the day you hatched from your stupid eggs, you ugly reptiles!¡± Anna¡¯s aura spreads to her surroundings, instantly attacking the minds of these lizards. This is nothing like killing intent, but rather more of a direct assault of her mental aura on their own, forcing their entire attention on her figure. They immediately rush at her, trying to kill her to free themselves from her aura. Amber dashes around the group of lizard¡¯s, getting behind them, and immediately starts swinging her battle-axe. Anderson has begun to strum the strings of his guitar with an ominous melody, causing the air around Anna and Amber to change slightly. Every time a lizard strikes out, trying to hit Anna, either her shield or sword appear as if they were waiting for it. Her sword deflects the attacks, causing the lizards to lose balance, while her shield sends the force of their own blows back to the lizard¡¯s body as she doesn¡¯t even move an inch when they strike against it. The whole time Amber is dancing wildly with her battle-axe sending the lizards, limbs, and heads flying into the air, and every time a lizard flies into the air, its body is hit by an arrow which blasts a hole in its body. Boris stands by Leilatha in case any enemies try to ambush her. Teamwork. Such perfect, harmonious teamwork. Anna focuses the enemies into one area, diverting their attention from the other members while dealing with their attacks. Amber uses her position to kill, weaken, and disrupt the enemies by sending them flying in the air while Leilatha follows up by killing the targets sent into the air. Anderson supports the group with magic, making their movements faster, their attacks stronger, and their patterns harder to predict while at the same time creating panic in the minds of the enemy and hiding the sounds his allies make. In the ears of Anna, Amber and Leilatha, however, every sound an enemy makes is amplified, enabling them to react to them easier. For the entire twelve seconds the fight lasted, Nova is staring at them. His eyes half-closed, struggling to remain open¡­ (Amazing¡­) and he is no longer able to avoid the pull of unconsciousness as his eyes are forced closed. One second to kill each of the lizards. Thats how fast it went. However, this group didn¡¯t even pause after the battle ended, immediately grabbing Nova and Bahina. Leilatha quickly cuts into one of the lizards to remove its poison sac, Anna carries Nova while Amber grabs ahold of Bahina. They race against the clock of death back to the campsite. ¡­. Nova and Bahina are both currently laid out in the campsite. Muiredon is channeling healing class light magic into their bodies to help the anti-poison he made from the lizard¡¯s poison sac. Both of them are breathing roughly and sweating profusely as their bodies are being cleansed. The wounds on both of them are still opened with blood glistening on them, but there is also a purple liquid slowing seeping out of them. In order to purge the poison from a wound, the opening needs to stay open as an exit path. After several minutes of Muiredon purging them and the girls constantly standing close by with worried expressions, resisting the urge to hold Nova in their arms, the poison slowly stops coming out of their wounds. ¡°*Hoo* That¡¯s all¡¯ve it, I would say. Now I¡¯ll just be needin¡¯ ta use some regeneration potion ta close up the wounds. It¡¯ll be up ta their own bodies for when they¡¯ll waken. Don¡¯t ye girls disturb the lad though, he needs his rest. But ye can quit yer worrin¡¯, they¡¯ll both live.¡± (Muiredon) They all sigh in relief, even Anderson who has been silently standing off to the side makes a relieved expression. Several hours go by, as the group decides to just stay camped until both of them wake up naturally. Bahina was the first to wake up, although slightly dazed. She looks about her, unsure as to what happened, when she sees Nova nearby sleeping soundly. The adventurers see her wake up, and Boris is made to explain to her what happened. (Nova was hurt.. and it was because of me.. How stupid! If only I were stronger.. I need to be stronger.. Mom did say this world was more dangerous than we realize.. My own foolishness got Nova injured..) She walks over to Nova, and curls up around him. (To protect Nova, I will get stronger. Please Nova, please wake up.) No one says anything else as they watch Bahina lay down near Nova, a few more hours go by.. ¡°What¡¯s with all yer longsome faces like the lads already at death¡¯s door? I said he¡¯d be fine didn¡¯t I? He¡¯s only a wee child, what¡¯d ye expect? He ain¡¯t got the vitality of monster even if he was raised by one. Just give it some time ye worried pansies.¡± (Muiredon) Everyone makes a pained face, realizing the truth in what he¡¯s saying. But still, they won¡¯t be completely at ease until they see Nova wake up for themselves.. ¡°Nnn¡­¡± Nova moves slightly in his sleep. Everyone looks at him, and they get up to see if he¡¯ll wake up, as this is the first time he¡¯s actually moved since they brought him here. ¡°Ahhnn..¡± Nova slowly opens his eyes.. he sees everyone around along with Bahina curled around him.. His eyes lock onto Amber. He reaches out with his hands, as if trying to bring her closer. Amber immediately moves closer, while Leilatha and Anna give slightly jealous expressions at her.. ¡°What is it Little Nova..¡± *Grrowwwll* ¡°...¡± His stomach just growled.. Nova is currently latched onto Amber¡¯s armor as he looks at her with pleading eyes.. ¡°Haahh, you greedy devil! You¡¯ve made us all worried for almost half a day, and the only thing you want to do when you wake up is eat?! Fine! I¡¯ll feed you, but I¡¯m monopolizing you for the rest of the day!¡± ¡°....¡± Everyone else is completely stunned, they watch Amber pickup Nova and carry him off to begin cooking. ¡°Ah! Wait! I wanna play with Nova too!¡± (Anna) ¡°Hey! You girls, he just woke up! Don¡¯t startle him!¡± (Leilatha) The girls all chase after Amber, including Bahina, leaving only Anderson and Muiredon just standing next to eachother. ¡°I don¡¯t know why.. but I get the feeling I¡¯m slowly being forgotten..¡± (Anderson) ¡°Mmm, it¡¯s because you play such weird songs..¡± (Muiredon) ¡°Tsk, what would you know about music. My songs are divine.¡±
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V1: C4: Too Young, Too Weak Ayyyy, Ch4 has arrived! No changes to Ch3, so you can go straight on ahead and read this one :). I''m really glad seeing all your comments guys, gives me a lot of motivation to keep writing as I am. But guys! If you find something that you don''t like, or you think something feels off, or the flow of the story feels awkward at some point; please let me know! I read all the comments, so anything you guys have to say I will see. That''s all for now, hope you guys enjoy Ch4! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V1: Wild Child C4: Too Young, Too Weak After the incident, Amber fed Nova until he couldn¡¯t eat anymore while Leilatha lectured him about how dangerous the situation was and how he shouldn¡¯t be trying to fight monsters like that. Even though he knew it wasn¡¯t really his fault since Bahina was the one that challenged the monsters, he didn¡¯t argue back because he was upset at his own lack of power to do anything in the situation. Everyone decided to get some rest before heading out again, and for the sake of making sure Nova didn¡¯t go through their things again, Anderson set up a barrier spell on the gear. As everyone was sleeping, Nova and Bahina were still wide awake. Bahina was laying down with her head on her paws and Nova was leaning against with his head looking up to the forest ceiling, staring into the sea of faux stars. ¡°To think those lizards were actually considered to be in the weakest category amongst monsters¡­ that would mean that all of the things I¡¯ve hunted up until now were nothing at all..¡± (Bahina) ¡°Nn.. I¡­ I need to be stronger.. If we got in a situation like that again, and we didn¡¯t have someone to save us.. we would probably die..¡± (Nova) ¡°...¡± Both of them didn¡¯t say anything else, lost in their own thoughts, rewatching the fight repeatedly through their minds.. (How useless am I.. an Azure Tiger who can¡¯t even handle a group of the weakest monsters? How am I supposed to get stronger.. I remember.. Mom said something about eating the mana of other monster¡¯s will make a monster stronger.. but I¡¯ve eaten the corpses of monsters many times.. I¡¯ve never noticed any changes.. maybe I missed something.. I¡¯ll need to go check the corpses of those lizards..) - Bahina (I¡¯m still so weak.. Compared to these people, I¡¯m extremely weak. Mom said that the only thing I need to become stronger is time, but even the weakest of monsters here can kill me so easily.. Why does time seem so slow when its the thing I need the most..) - Nova Secretly, Anderson is watching both Nova and Bahina, observing their expressions.. (Such a young kid is really so upset about being defeated by a monster? This is ridiculous, a kid his age shouldn¡¯t even be fighting against a squirrel let alone monsters. But I guess this will give him some pretty good motivation.. The best thing for a person pursuing strength is perspective after all.. such a monster child could truly only have the child of a monster.) ¡­. In the time before the rest of the group was to wake up and get ready to travel, Bahina snuck off in the direction where the lizards were, making sure not to disturb Nova. It took her about ten minutes to find the area, but when she got there the lizards were already butchered. Something had already gone through the corpses before she had a chance too. (Darn.. What a waste.. I¡¯ll have to find another monster later, I need to figure out what Mom meant.. Why can¡¯t she ever just explain things fully, sheesh.) While Bahina is walking through the corpses, looking for something that could help her, another figure is watching her from one of the lower branches. ¡°Hmm, could you be perhaps, looking for these?¡± Bahina¡¯s head jolts in the direction the voice came from, and she sees Anderson drop down from the branch. In his hands are small pale gray crystals, only about the size of peas. ¡°You can speak monster language?!¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯m also a monster species after all. Tell me, are these what you¡¯re looking for?¡± This time he¡¯s standing right in front of Bahina, showing her the pea-sized crystals. ¡°I don¡¯t know.. What are they?¡± ¡°... You don¡¯t know what they are?¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°Haaah, no wonder you seem so weak for an Azure Tiger. Did your mom teach you anything? Sheesh.¡± ¡°Shut up. Our mother taught us plenty, she was just obscure on many things she wanted us to learn for ourselves.¡± ¡°Is that so? Well then I guess I¡¯ll explain in her place. These are mana crystals which are literally crystallized forms of mana. They exist within all monsters, including both you and me. They are the definition of our power, they exist to contain all the mana our bodies possess. If a monster were to consume the mana crystal of another monster, they could break it down, and add it to their own mana crystal. Each crystal is found in one place, no matter which monster it is, it is always the same. That place is the heart. The reason? Because your mana flows directly through your bloodstream, so that it can reach every part of your body. Do you understand it now?¡± ¡°Yeah! I was told about consuming the mana of other monsters, but she didn¡¯t explain how. But now I get it, so all I need to do is eat the mana crystals and I can get stronger!¡± At the thought of being able to grow stronger, she reaches out for the mana crystal in Anderson¡¯s hand.. But he closes his hand, and pulls the crystals away. ¡°Ah-ah-ah, These are mine. As soon as something enters the hand of an Adventurer, it belongs to that Adventurer. You should remember this. Hehe, if you want mana crystals, you¡¯ll have to go out and hunt your own.¡± ¡°You shitty bird! I fought these lizards too! At least give me one for the one I killed!¡± ¡°No can do, I told you I¡¯m a monster too right? I can eat these just as much as you can, although.. they won¡¯t be much use to me at my current level. But they¡¯re still useful for magic items, enchants, and spells. As an active adventurer they¡¯re much better in my hands than yours.¡± ¡°... I¡¯ll tell her.¡± ¡°Hm? Tell who what?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell the pointy-eared lady that you¡¯re able to speak monster language, but you¡¯ve made her talk through her wolf the entire time.¡± ¡°... Ah¡­ Uhm.. thats no good.. Ah, here, I¡¯ll give you one crystal, see? This is good right? So there shouldn¡¯t be a need to tell her? It¡¯s quite amusing to watch her talking with Nova using a wolf as a translator, It¡¯d be a shame if that were to stop..¡± ¡°Two.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°I want two.¡± ¡°*Tsk* Greedy cat, fine take two.¡± ¡°Hehe, perfect.¡± Bahina takes two of the crystals, and runs back to camp, excited at the prospects of getting stronger. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°You won¡¯t tell her right? Right?!¡± Without getting a promise, Anderson doesn¡¯t know if he¡¯s still in trouble or not. ¡­. The next few days were occupied by Bahina going out to hunt, progressively getting stronger. Meanwhile, Nova was trying to convince Leilatha to teach him to fight like they did when they killed the lizards, but she wouldn¡¯t teach him because she thought he was too young to begin physical training. Even if he could run fast and was agile, he was just a four year old child. He was only considered fast and agile for someone his age, but compared to average children at the age of ten, his speed and agility counted for little because of the difference of age in their bodies. If it weren¡¯t for being able to use feral form, Nova wouldn¡¯t be very fast at all. (Geez.. this kid.. this is the third day since that incident, but he still persists on me teaching him how to get stronger. I bet if he could, he would ask Anna and Amber too and they would teach him.. Good thing I¡¯m the only one who can understand him.. But if this goes on, I may give in too.. I know! I¡¯ll use this as motivation for him, if I can get him to learn other things at the promise of me teaching him how to get stronger later, I could probably get him to do a lot.) *Boris, can you call Nova over here?* *Certainly, Miss.* ¡°Nova! My Miss wishes to speak to you.¡± (Boris) ¡°Ah! Did you say she¡¯s gonna teach me?!¡± (Nova) ¡°No you brat! Just get over here.¡± ¡°Mmm fine, what does she want?¡± *Okay Boris, tell Nova that I will teach him to get stronger, but first he will have to learn a lot of things. And first and foremost, is he will have to learn the common language.* ¡°Miss says she will promise to teach you, bu-¡± ¡°REALLY?! AMAZING! Let¡¯s get started right awa-¡± ¡°SHUT UP! Let me finish first. She will only teach you if you promise to learn everything she thinks you¡¯ll need to know first. Beginning with learning the common language.¡± ¡°Ehhh? So I won¡¯t get to learn right away..?¡± ¡°No. But eventually she will teach you. You¡¯re still too young to train your body.¡± ¡°... But..¡± ¡°Listen kid. Just accept the Miss¡¯ offer, and quit being so impatient. You think being strong and fighting is all that it takes to live in this world? I can guarantee you, that if you don¡¯t accept my Miss¡¯ offer, you¡¯ll regret it.¡± ¡°... Okay. I understand..¡± *Miss, he has agreed to let you teach him.* *Perfect! Lets get started right away!* (Oh crap.. I forgot I¡¯m going to be the messenger..) ¡­. For the next four days, Leilatha began to teach Nova to speak the common language as they traveled. What surprised her was how fast he was picking up on it despite being raised to know a different language. She had a hunch that Nova might be smarter than she originally thought, remembering how he had picked up on Muiredon¡¯s potion making skills a few days ago. So she began teaching Nova all kinds of things while teaching him the common language. When they wake up she would teach Nova things about camping and showing all the kinds of gear that adventurers carried with them. During the lunch breaks she would take him on their hunts to learn the names of animals or monsters or she would follow Muiredon and teach him the names of the herbs, ingredients and potions. And when the settled down to rest, she would take him to Amber and have him learn the names of foods and the ingredients she uses to cook. In between the trips she would have Nova practice all the words he learned, hammering the language into his mind. After the four days, she gauged that Nova knew was about a tenth of the way there in knowing what to say, but he couldn¡¯t pronounce the words as easily as he could in monster language. He still had ways to go if he wanted be able to actually speak common. But the lessons would have to be put on pause for a bit, because ahead of the ground currently there is a bright light breaking through the darkness of the Eternal Night Forest like a portal to the elemental realm of light standing before them¡­ They¡¯ve finally reached the border. ¡­. As the group walks out they¡¯re briefly blinded by the sun flying high in the sky.. well.. most of them are briefly blinded.. ¡°AHH..BRIGHT!!¡± Nova is burying his face in Leilatha¡¯s chest after having his eyes nearly burned out of his skull for the first time. Bahina is having a similar reaction as she¡¯s laying down on the ground with her paws over her eyes. ¡°Oops, I should¡¯ve expected this to happen.. Nova, quit hiding.. if you don¡¯t get used to it you won¡¯t be able to see at all.. Amber help me with him, please.¡± She¡¯s trying to pry Nova off her chest, but his grasp isn''t giving any thought of weakening. Amber comes over, about to pry him off, when she gets a better idea. ¡°Hehe, Nova, you better let go, or else I¡¯m gonna.. attack!¡± She begins tickling him in his sides, abusing the weakness of every child in existence! ¡°AHAHAH, BRIGHT! NOOA!¡± In the brief moment his grasp loosens from laughing, Amber has plucked him off of Leilatha and is holding him with his face facing towards the sun. ¡°Haha, let¡¯s give them a moment to adjust to the sun. C¡¯mon Bahina, you gotta open your eyes too..¡± Anderson tries to move Bahina¡¯s paws from her eyes, but is greeted by a whack of her tail on his head. ¡°Sheesh, this cat..¡± After about ten minutes of being out in the sun for the first time ever, Nova¡¯s eyes have adjusted to the sun enough for him to be able squint while looking around.. In front of them is massive plain of honey-yellow grass, the entire plain is moving in concert to the wind like a gentle sea with waves gliding across it. In the distance a dark figure can be seen, little dots are going in and out of it in groups, either heading away or traveling towards the forest. That dark figure is none other than the Adventurer¡¯s Outpost. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hope you guys are prepared for a time skip, cause its coming soon ;P
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V1: C5: The Adventurers Hall Good day! Here comes Ch5 with some interesting information into the world of adventurers. As always feel free to comment with any thoughts you have :). A time skip is coming next chapter, but the true time skip which leads to the MC''s power development will not be next chapter. Sorry guys, but I want to pace this novel well and give good explanations for everything that happens in the MC''s life. So there won''t be a sudden its been x years and now Nova is super-mega-powerful-ultra MC with all the bae''s and bitches. Ehehe, well I hope you guys enjoy :). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V1: Wild Child C5: The Adventurer¡¯s Hall The party of adventurers is currently traveling down the road leading from the forest to the Adventurers outpost. Nova¡¯s figure is now dressed in makeshift clothes that Leilatha got him to wear with great effort. Because of how pale Nova¡¯s skin was from living in forest, if he didn¡¯t wear clothes he would probably get sun burnt to a horrible degree. Also it would be a bit embarrassing to walk through the outpost with a half-naked Nova, even if he was only a child. However Nova has forgotten the uncomfortable clothes as his mind is currently occupied with all the new sights around him. Traveling down the road are other groups of adventurers of many different races and monsters that simply shock Nova. There are giant men with horns on their heads and tails swishing behind them; there are men with green scales and lizard-heads; there are elves with tan, light blue, light red, or dark gray skin; there are men with giant axes, hammers, or great-swords while there are also men with thin swords and daggers or staves and wands; there are people with large monsters like lizards, spiders, and there was even a giant armadillo creature with a man wearing a cowboy-style getup riding on top of it. Each and every adventurer was different from the next, and each and everyone of them found a way to fascinate Nova whose eyes never even took the time to blink. He could hear talk of tales of exploration and fights and dungeons he¡¯s never heard of as they passed by. All the while they drew closer and closer to the outpost. The entrances to the outpost don¡¯t have any guards, as its not a city with regular civilians that need to be protected. There are no mayors, nobles, or politics that plague other cities in the kingdoms. There is only adventurers and merchants. As they enter the outpost Nova is lost in the sea of noise and sights. The hammering of metal comes from a stone building with a plume of smoke rising from it¡¯s roof. The bartering of adventurers and merchants looking to buy and sell goods line the sides of the roads filled with stalls. As they enter the center of the outpost there is large circular clearing filled to the brim with adventurers. People are standing all over the place shouting out requests to recruit people for their groups to go explore the wilderness or quests to go hunt down wild monsters within the borders. The group of adventurers ignores all this and proceed to the northern edge of the clearing, weaving their way through the crowd. Sometimes they get looks, mostly because of Bahina. Even amongst Adventurers the Azure Tiger is incredibly rare, however to attack an adventurer to kill their monster companion is regarded as an extreme crime. Not to mention the punishments that would come from the Adventurer¡¯s Enclave if they were caught, but the Adventurer¡¯s Guilds behind the adventurer themselves would seek vengeance. And trying to sell the materials gathered from such a rare monster would be the same as admitting to the crime. The system of adventurer relationships works like this: At the top there is the Adventurer¡¯s Enclave. They deal with missions, requests, and dungeon explorations of all adventurers. Anyone who is not registered with them, is not a true adventurer. They also assign the rankings of every adventurer as well as collect information, assign ranks, and organize all known monsters that have been discovered by adventurers throughout history. Below them, are the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. They are groups of adventurers who have partnered together to protect themselves from the more greedy adventurers who try to steal loot and monsters either inside or outside the dungeons. To mess with one adventurer is to mess with their entire guild, or so it goes. Below that, are the Adventurer Parties. They are the small groups of adventurers who have joined together as teammates to fight monsters in the dungeons or on missions. So although Bahina is attracting some jealous gazes, no one interferes with them, and they don¡¯t bother with anyone else. At the Northern edge of the plaza is the Adventurer¡¯s Hall. It is a massive, five-story building made of sturdy light gray stone. The doors are simple in design but are made out of solid metal. Even though they look incredibly heavy, they¡¯re easy to open with just a push. On the inside it is even more packed than the outside, even though its a massive hall that is almost triple the size of the plaza. At the edges of the halls are booths separated by sturdy walls with small openings in them. In these openings are clerks who are handling the adventurers who have come to reassess their ranks, sell goods to the Adventurer¡¯s Enclave, or register their parties for missions. In front of every single opening is a long line of people waiting for their turn, each one discussing plans and tales with their friends or other adventurers. Nova is still staring wide-eyed at everything that¡¯s passing in front of him while Leilatha is thinking its too bad that he can¡¯t explain things to him clearly in such a noisy environment. The group enters one of the lines and end up waiting for almost two hours before they get the chance to talk with a clerk. Meanwhile Anderson, Muiredon, and Amber all head out to organize a place for their group to stay at one of the inns, leaving their loot in the hands of Leilatha who is recognized as the most responsible. Anna stays behind to as she needs to rank up, and also because there¡¯s no need for her to go to the inn yet, as the matter of picking out new clothes for Nova is currently exciting her. Finally, they are at the front of the line and get to speak with a clerk, who is a human lady that looks to be around forty years in age, but you can never really tell someones age without knowing what level they¡¯re at. ¡°Next.¡± They walk forward. ¡°IDs.¡± Both Anna and Leilatha hand her small iron plates about the size of the palm of their hands. ¡°Adventurer Anna, you¡¯re clear for a rank up. Congratulations. You are now Bronze Rank.¡± (Last names are not used amongst Adventurers due to the idea that by becoming an Adventurer you leave behind all relations with clans, nobles, kingdoms, and politics. The only thing that matters here is rank.) ¡°Are there any goods that you wish to trade in?¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± The clerk woman nods, ¡°Place them in the tray.¡± They begin placing their loot in the tray, but when each item hits the tray it disappears. After about ten minutes of dumping out all the loot they gathered during their trip, which was surprisingly a lot, they closed their bags and signaled to the lady that was all they had. ¡°Hmm, quite a bit. That comes out to 23,700 credits. Do you want to leave them as credits or exchange?¡± (Credits are a form of currency used by the Adventurer¡¯s Enclave. They are used to purchase missions or rare goods that only the Adventurer¡¯s Enclave, however you can exchange them for gold if you wish to trade with the merchants outside of the Adventurer¡¯s Hall.) ¡°Please exchange 10,000 credits. Leave the rest in the party account please.¡± (The party account is a shared account which accumulates all the credits a party earns while contracted together. When the party disbands, the credits are distributed to their personal accounts evenly.) The clerk woman nods, and 100 gold coins appear on the tray in front of the counter. (Exchange rate is 100 credits to 1 gold) ¡°Alright, will there be anything else?¡± ¡°Uhm, yes. We would like to inform the Adventurer¡¯s Enclave that we found a child in the Eternal Night Forest. We don¡¯t wish to send him off to one of the villages, so we were wondering if we could register him as member of our party?¡± The clerk woman pauses for a moment.. Then she leans over the counter to get a look at the child.. (Gold eyes.. Cat ears and tail.. Surely this is the kid right? I¡¯ll need to contact the head.) ¡°Please wait one moment, don¡¯t move. Stay right there. I need to contact the Head of the Adventurer¡¯s Hall.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Both Leilatha and Anna look at each other with shocked expressions. The Head of the Adventurer¡¯s Hall? Only top ranked Adventurer¡¯s would ever see him, but for some reason this lady needs to talk to him about Nova? Truly something is going on here.. ¡°Ehem. Miss Leilatha and Miss Anna would you please proceed up the stairs to the fifth floor, the Head would like to have a word with you. And don¡¯t think about leaving, you won¡¯t be able to.¡± Scary. Definitely scary. Both Anna and Leilatha are incredibly scared. They were given no choice but to meet the head. Nova and Bahina are both confused and cautious since they were scared, but they had no choice but to follow them. At the stairs of each floor of the adventurer¡¯s guild were incredibly power guards. Guards at the level that could kill both of them as easily as crushing a bug. Yet here they were, walking up the stairs after the guards parted for them without even a word as to who they were. On the second floor was a more decorated environment with a lounge of sofa¡¯s and tables for people to sit at. As they walked past everything to the next set of stairs, they gathered a few looks, but seeing them going to the stairs with the guards parting for them, no one said anything. The third floor was even more luxurious, with fancy sofas and lounges and even a bar with waitress serving food and drinks. But they walked past it all, up to the next set of stairs. The fourth floor was completely empty of people, but it was decorated in a way that it felt like it was made for a king. The wait-staff working there all stood at their positions, awaiting the customers that rarely ever come. Finally, they reached the fifth floor, which the staircase ended at the top in a hallway. They walked down the hallway and stood in front of a large set of doors. When they got there the guards standing next to it opened it for them. Inside was an office with soft, brown fur carpeting. The sides of the offices held some fancy weapons, but there were no things like bookcases that usually filled an office. At the end of the office was a large window which stood behind a large desk. The desk was carved out of a beautiful, dark brown wood. Behind the desk was a massive man, with muscles that rippled and pushed against his skin. He had massive twin horns protruding from the mass of dark brown hair extending to the man¡¯s neck. He watched both Anna and Leilatha enter his office, then stand there at the doorway with shocked expressions. ¡°Well?¡± His voice rings out in a burly, over-powering voice, ¡°Are you just going to stand there or are you coming to come sit down?¡± He says with a chuckle at the end, gesturing to the couch thats positioned in front of his desk. ¡°AH! Forgive me Hall Head, It was rude of me to stare.¡± Leilatha quickly bows while forcing Anna out of her still shocked look to bow too. ¡°Ah, right. Forgive me Hall Head.¡± Anna has snapped out of her stupor. ¡°Enough. Come sit.¡± They immediately walk to the couch and sit down, with Anna and Leilatha sitting on the left side and Nova on the right with Bahina positioned next to him at the edge of the couch. The man looks away from Leilatha and Anna and stares at Nova. Nova suddenly feels shivers shake his whole body from the man¡¯s gaze. Nova, having never been in a situation like this, nor does he know about the position of the man in front of him, does the only thing he knows to do when he feels threatened. He immediately activates feral form and growls at the man, while giving him a fierce wary look. Bahina, also sensing danger, is in a pouncing position while giving a low, rumbling growl from her throat. ¡°Ahahaha! Certainly you are the kid, such a fierce attitude. Even able to use feral form at a such a young age? Remarkable.¡± He then shifts his gaze back of to Anna and Leilatha, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll need both of you to tell me everything about how you found him, and everything about him since you found him. Don¡¯t leave anything out.¡± For the next hour both Anna and Leilatha told him about how the found Nova chasing a Moon Rabbit; about how they learned he had been raised by an Azure Tiger which is the mother of the Azure Tiger next to him; about how he could only understand monster language the best and not common; about how he fought the Purple Devil Lizards and almost died; about how Leilatha has begun teaching him all sorts of things; and about how they want him to join their party so they can keep him with them instead of sending him off to a village. The whole time Nova is still glaring at the man, although he is no longer is in feral form. And the man silently listens to everything Anna and Leilatha tell him without interrupting. At the end he nods slightly while putting his hand to his chin to think for a minute. ¡°Alright, I will permit you to let him join your party, but you cannot take him out of this outpost. You can teach him whatever you want, but you must not physically train him in any fighting. Also, you must have him form a Hunter¡¯s Bond with the Azure Tiger next to him. If people found out that a loose Azure Tiger was walking around the outpost there would be pandemonium. That is all, understood?¡± ¡°¡±Yes sir.¡±¡± Both Anna and Leilatha answer without any debate. Although Leilatha is thanking him in her heart for not taking Nova away. ¡°Alright, you may leave.¡± They both get up and walk towards the door while Nova and Bahina follow along behind them confused while still glancing at the man behind the desk. When he looks at the man, the man is staring straight in his eyes, giving him a smile. Nova immediately runs out the room. ¡­. Inside the office, the man is sitting at his desk. ¡°*Sigh* Guess I gotta write the letter, getting it to the bastard is going to be troublesome though..¡± He begins writing on a blank sheet of paper, while thinking quietly to himself¡­ ¡­. Anna and Leilatha immediately leave the Adventurer¡¯s Hall and head straight for the agreed upon inn that Muiredon, Anderson, and Amber should be waiting at. At a table in the bar area of the inn on the ground floor, Anna and Leilatha are retelling the events that happened while they were in the Adventurer¡¯s Hall. Everyone is giving Nova odd looks, trying to figure out the secret as to why the head would have an interest in him.. ¡°Well.. He obviously doesn¡¯t want us to take Nova anywhere. So he must be waiting for someone that knows Nova to come for him. But whether that person is good or bad.. who can say.¡± (Anderson) ¡°You think so too? I can¡¯t imagine the Head of the Adventurer¡¯s Hall would give Nova up to some noble who wants him even if it was for money.¡± (Leilatha) ¡°Hmph, any bastard who tries to take Nova from us isn¡¯t going to get him easy. I¡¯ll bury them in the ground down to their necks before I let them harm Nova.¡± (Amber) ¡°Right. We can¡¯t just abandon Nova after all this time. We¡¯re the ones who brought him here, so we¡¯re partly responsible for what happens to him.¡± (Anna) ¡°What are ye lasses complaining about? He agreed to let the lad join our party didn¡¯t he? I doubt the man¡¯s going to go against the own rules of the Adventurer¡¯s Enclave to forcibly take the lad from us without our agreement.¡± (Muiredon) ¡°Ah! That¡¯s right! Nova belongs to us now! Even if an entire Kingdom wanted him, they couldn¡¯t take him and risk insulting the Adventurer¡¯s Enclave.¡± (Anna) ¡°Right, but there¡¯s still going to be someone coming for him. For what purpose, I can¡¯t say.¡± (Anderson) ¡°We¡¯ll just deal with it when the time comes, but for now, Nova is one us! We should be happy! Aww, cmere Nova!¡± (Amber) ¡°Right, Nova is in our party now. We should celebrate!¡± (Leilatha) For the remainder of the night, they cast aside their concerns and worries over today¡¯s events. The girls cuddled Nova and fed him all kinds of things while Anderson would play songs in the bar. Muiredon drank heavily while chatting with other dwarves he knew. At one point when Amber got up to grab more food, a man tried to hit on her but before he could even finish his line he was already on the floor in tears as he held his groin in pain. She simply gave him a smile, and stepped over him saying that Nova is far better than a weak man like him. And so concludes the events that led to Nova joining his first party of adventurers..
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V1: C6: Quality Bonding Time Okay, first off let me say I''m sorry. I lied. This chapter will not be the time skip, but the next one will! This chapter was actually meant to only be a part of the chapter, but as I was writing it, it was taking up more and more space as it went on, but it felt right to write it like this. I hope you guys will still like this chapter even though I know you guys are all excited to see an older Nova, but don''t worry, the level ups are coming... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V1: Wild Child C6: Quality Bonding Time The next day Leilatha, Amber, and Anna took Nova to a tailor¡¯s shop to select a new outfit for him. However, Nova was just too cute of a kid for things to go smoothly. The shop-owner, the girls, and a dozen or so other adventurer girls erupted into a massive argument about what would look the best on Nova. The next four hours were filled with Nova being man-handled left and right by random women as they dressed and undressed him repeatedly. Even when it was Leilatha who had her hands on him trying to dress him he still struggled to run away for his life. In the meantime, Bahina was sulking outside the shop, as she was too big to fit through the doorway. In time, Nova walked out of the tailor¡¯s shop.. but he was immediately dragged away to the barber¡¯s shop without even getting to the chance to take a breath. By lunchtime Nova was sitting at a table at the inn while getting looks from a lot of women passing by their table. Nova¡¯s hair was changed from it¡¯s long, unruly look to a medium length. His bangs were pushed off to the side, while his hair had a fluff too it making it incredibly pleasing to run your hands through it. The striped pattern was straightened out, so it was easier to see, and with his bangs out of the way you could easily see his beautiful golden irises and his smooth white face. He was dressed in a red short-sleeved shirt that matched the stripes in his hair along with a black vest. For his legs he wore black shorts that went to his knees, and were held up by a red-leather belt. For his feet¡­ he didn¡¯t wear shoes. Even when they tried to buy him shoes, and put them on him he just immediately took them off complaining they made his feet hurt. In the end, maybe because his mother was an elf, he was incredibly handsome for a four year old. The rest of the day was spent with Leilatha, while she taught Bahina and Nova how to create a Hunter¡¯s Bond. Nova acted as the translator now, since he could understand most of what Leilatha said as long as she explained it simply. The Hunter¡¯s Bond was known as a magical bond between monster and human, by using the Hunter¡¯s mana to create a seal on the mana crystal of the monster. However, because Nova was not yet of age, he could not control his mana to make the bond. Therefore a Bond Scroll was needed to act as the medium between them. Scrolls are created from the bark of magic trees and are used by people who scribe magic runes to hold spells so other people can also use them. The Bond Scroll was a common scroll to be found, as there were quite a few hunters that didn¡¯t have very good control over mana. So Leilatha began instructing Nova and Bahina to make a small cut on their hands (paw) and place their wound on the individual portions of the rune on the scroll. One side was for the master while the other was for the companion. The rune would then use the mana in their blood to create the seal on Bahina¡¯s mana crystal. (Wait.. If I put my paw on the master¡¯s side.. does that mean I¡¯ll get to own Nova?!) Immediately, Bahina tried to turn the scroll around while Leilatha and Nova were talking, as soon as she turned it however, Leilatha was glaring at her. Leilatha then explained that, since Nova does not have a mana crystal inside of him, trying to put a servant seal on him would cause the mana in his body to become chaotic and potentially killing him. Bahina instantly regretted her thought at trying to enslave Nova, to think that she had almost killed her little brother¡­ Nova, however, understood his sisters thoughts so he thought he should try to cheer her up. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Big Sis, I wouldn¡¯t have minded being the servant, but we¡¯ll still be connected through the bond either way. With this we¡¯ll be able to communicate with our thoughts and be able to sense each others locations. It¡¯ll still be good, right?¡± ¡°Guu.. Little Nova wants to be my servant.. what a waste of an opportunity..¡± ¡°Come on Bahina, quit being so sad. Let¡¯s make the bond okay?¡± ¡°Alright..¡± Nova uses a small knife to kick a cut on his palm while Bahina uses a claw from her left hand to make a cut on her right paw. Then together, they place their hands on the portions of the Bond Scroll. Slowly, a faint white light begins to glow from the rune on the scroll, slowly travelling from where there hands were to the center of the rune. Then a thin stream of their blood, rolls along the lines of the rune from their open wounds, and travels to towards the center.. Then, as soon as both of their blood meets in the center, a surge of mana permeates the room. Leilatha¡¯s face is horrified, knowing that something has gone wrong with the bond, but she can do nothing as there is a powerful barrier erected around both of them. Both Bahina¡¯s and Nova¡¯s eyes are shut tightly because the light coming from the rune on the scroll is blinding them. Beads of sweat are rolling down Nova¡¯s face, and they¡¯re both breathing heavily as their mana is being forcefully pulled out of them in large amounts. Then.. as the intensity of the pull reaches a certain threshold, they both lose control of their consciousness, being dragged away from their bodies.. Nova finds himself in a forest of pink bamboo. Bamboo with thick trunks, and leaves of bright blue flame that create an azure colored atmosphere around him. Although he can sense that he currently doesn¡¯t have any eyes, he can still see everything around him.. Next to him he see¡¯s a floating blue sphere, like a wisp of blue light that floats in the air. He doesn¡¯t know what tells him so, but he knows that this wisp of light is Bahina. He wonders if he is also a wisp.. Then he looks behind him.. There, standing in front of a house constructed of pink bamboo, is a massive tiger. However this tiger is not like Bahina, nor even his mother. The tiger is sitting on its hind legs, rising to about fourteen feet in height, but the colors of this tiger are what make it truly astonishing to see. The tiger white colored fur, but its stripes are emitting solid, lively flames. Flames that seem to be radiating light, mana, and every kind of elemental energy there is. Sometimes they radiate blue light..then yellow light..then purple light..then black light, white light, red light, green light, there are simply so many colors that it completely hypnotizes those who see it. Even though Nova knows he¡¯s been staring at the flames, he simply can¡¯t bring himself to look away.. he can¡¯t seem to control his own desire to watch the flames.. Before he knows it, he¡¯s already standing inside the flames, completely surrounded by them. He¡¯s no longer in the forest of pink bamboo, but is now floating in a space filled with nothing but the ever-changing flame that¡¯s filling him with vast amounts of energy. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. He feels a pull on himself, like a piece of him is being pulled out like a string. The same string is coming from the wisp nearby that he knows to be Bahina.. Their strings slowly reach each other, then slowly wrap around each other. He feels like his whole being is suddenly being scorched as the strings slowing fuse together, creating a long solid string between his and Bahina¡¯s wisp. Then, as the burning feeling reaches an unimaginable pain, an image flashes through his consciousness for no longer than a fraction of second.. An image of a two tigers, laying in a circle creating a loop. One tiger is a solid red flame, the other a solid blue, but their flames seem to flow with each other, dancing inside of each other despite their difference in color. Then he feels like he¡¯s being dragged through vast amounts of space, traveling at a speed unimaginable to him, and then he no longer feels anything.. sinking deep into unconsciousness. ¡­. Leilatha, who can do nothing but watch from outside the barrier while she cries in protest, can only see that Nova and Bahina are in extreme pain as they¡¯re breathing roughly and sweating heavily. After several seconds, she can suddenly see through the light on the rune, that the rune is slowly changing shape. It¡¯s being rewritten¡­ something is rewriting it.. Then the rune stops changing. It¡¯s light thickens, and both Nova and Bahina scream slightly in pain. Leilatha¡¯s heart pounds against her chest, as if it wants to leap out of her to Nova since she herself can¡¯t get close. But all she can do is watch Nova¡¯s face twist from the pain, and cry for her own lack of ability to do anything. The light dims slowly until it¡¯s completely gone, and both Bahina and Nova are lying unconscious on the floor. The wound on their hands are gone, but they¡¯re still breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Leilatha immediately runs to Nova¡¯s side.. ¡­. For the next four days and nights, Nova and Bahina stayed unconscious. A terrible fever overcame both of them, and Muiredon was constantly on standby to help them settle the fever down if it ever got too high. According to him, neither Nova and Bahina were sick. They simply had overwhelming fevers that wouldn¡¯t quiet down. He had to repeatedly give them medicine that was capable of pacifying fevers, but in the face of this, all it could do was blunt the effects. Even when he tried healing them with light magic, nothing happened. Leilatha stayed in the room the entire time. She would always wash Nova, change the bedding, and help him and Bahina drink some water to keep them from dehydrating. One day she even had to wash Bahina which she had put off since she was too large to fit in any bath, however, the smell became too much of a problem. So she laid down a lot of towels and had Amber help her move Bahina on top of them, then she used a brush to run the water through Bahina¡¯s fur and clean her. Anna and Amber would often come to try taking over looking over them, but Leilatha would always refuse to leave. Even though she knew she wasn¡¯t directly responsible for what happened to them, she was still the one who put them in that situation, the one who had given them the Bond Scroll that was rewritten, putting them in such a dire state. For all four days and nights, she stayed like that until finally.. at the morning of the fifth day.. Nova and Bahina opened their eyes at the same time. ¡­. In the morning of the fifth day, Leilatha was laying against the side of Nova¡¯s bed fast asleep. Her breathe was quietly going in and out through her nose; her eyes were blackened from the lack of sleep from worrying; and her skin was more of a sickly pale than the beautiful white color it had earlier. Her thin blonde hair covered the side of her face and her back. Her head rested on her arms that were propped up on Nova¡¯s bedside. Nova and Bahina¡¯s eyes jolted open. The fever that had plagued them was now gone, and they were greeted by an extremely odd sensation. Nova could feel his own senses just fine, and move his body normally. Everything about him seemed normal, however.. there was something else. Like he could also sense something more that what he should be able to. He could.. sense everything that Bahina was sensing.. He could sense everything that was behind him, as he looked at Bahina and Bahina looked at him. Even though he wasn¡¯t looking behind him, he could sense what was behind him. And just the same, Bahina could sense everything that was behind her even though it was only Nova who was looking behind her. It was as if¡­ they were sharing each other¡¯s senses¡­ They could feel each other¡¯s existence as if they were sharing the same body with two souls. They understood, that in someway, they were now bonded together. Nova looked down to his bedside, seeing Leilatha sleeping there. He brought his hand up to her face, pushing her hair aside, ¡°Liela.. Liela wake up..¡± ¡°Hmmnn, Nova would look better in a suit.. we should get him a suit..¡± ¡°Liela, wake up..¡± ¡°Nnn, maybe sweep his bangs to the right.. it might look better..¡± ¡°Liela.. Liela, wake up..¡± He began shaking her by shoulder, causing her to slightly open her eyes.. ¡°Hmm? Nova? What do you want..¡± ¡°Liela.. hungry..¡± ¡°Hmm? I¡¯m not that hungry..¡± ¡°No, me hungry..¡± ¡°Oh.. go find Amber, she¡¯ll make you something..¡± ¡°...¡± Nova gives a slightly disappointed look that Leilatha won¡¯t join him, but he decides to let her sleep since she looks so tired. He pulls the blanket off the bed and drapes it over Leilatha before he and Bahina head for the door. He shuts the door behind him as he leaves, heading over to Amber¡¯s room in the inn. Inside the room he just left, Leilatha is breathing softly, slowly falling asleep¡­ (Nova.. please wake up..) ¡­. Her eyes shoot open. ¡°NOVA!¡± She immediately shoots out of the room, knocking over chairs and a table, throwing open the door. Down the hallway, Nova is standing with Bahina outside of Amber¡¯s door and he turns around giving Leilatha a surprised look at her sudden charge. ¡°NOOOVAAA!!!!¡± She crashes into him, squeezing him tightly as if she¡¯s afraid if her hold is too weak he won¡¯t be there. She begins crying and sobbing heavily, while Nova is simply too shocked to do anything, completely unaware that he was unconscious with a fever for four days. To him, it¡¯s like he only just woke up the next day, and neither he nor Bahina can recall the events that happened when they formed the Hunter¡¯s Bond. The door in front of him opens and both Amber and Anna immediately begin hugging Nova too while crying, although not as heavily as Leilatha. Once again, Nova is slowly suffocating in the bosoms of these women...
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V1: C7: An Unrefusable Offer Hello readers! As I promised this chapter contains a time skip, albeit a small one. This one works to put Nova closer to the significant six year old point in the lives of children. This chapter includes some information on the adventurer system which I would appreciate you guys letting me know what you think. It also features a lot of dialogue that I''m still gaining experience on writing, and I would like to know what you guys think about it as well. Hope you guys like it though :) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V1: Wild Child C7: An Unrefusable Offer It has been a little over one and a half years since the day that Leilatha, Amber, Anderson, Anna, and Muiredon discovered Nova in the Eternal Night Forest. These one and a half years Nova spent with them were about learning of the society of adventurers and the world beyond the walls of this outpost. For there were so many things he could learn simply by talking with people, Nova became well known throughout the outpost. Not only for the fact that it became known he had tamed an Azure Tiger, but also because he was always interested in the stories of adventurers. Nothing boosted an adventurers ego more than having a young kid excitedly listening to their tales of exploring the terrifying dungeons filled with monsters, traps, and dangers. His lessons with Leilatha also continued on as she taught him the common language to the point where he could fully speak sentences instead of just single words that implied what he meant to say. Whenever Nova had questions about some of the things adventurers told him, he would also go find Leilatha to find out what they meant. In doing so she taught him about many types of monsters, dungeons, places, and treasures that adventurers saw in the world. Anything and everything to do with adventuring, he learned by heart. To a young kid, living in a city filled with people whose lives contained the thrill of exploration, danger, and fighting was an inspiration to aspire to be an adventurer himself. He often spent his days dreaming about the day he would become an adventurer. To explore the unknown wilderness, travel through exotic lands, and exploring dangerous dungeons all the while fighting in a constant state of life or death. A thrill he could not find within the confines of this outpost. About a week after Nova had first arrived at the outpost, Lielatha took him back to the Adventurer¡¯s Hall to officially register into their party. He was given his first Adventurer¡¯s Plate, which is a complex magical item shows to a certain accuracy the statistics of an adventurer. At four years age, Nova¡¯s plate looked like this:
Adventurer¡¯s Plate
Name:Nova
Rank:NoneProgress:0%
Level:0Progress:0%
Statistics:
Strength:8Stamina:7
Vitality:4Agility:16
Dexterity:11Intelligence:10
Wisdom:6
Statistics were determined by the complex spell contained within the plate that would test the owner¡¯s capabilities when they applied their blood to it. If the owner did not apply blood to the plate again to check, the statistics wouldn¡¯t change because it wouldn¡¯t be able to reassess the changes in the owner. Generally stats would naturally increase once a year from birth until ten years age except for intelligence and wisdom. This way an average ten year old child who never received early training would only be at ten in strength, stamina, vitality, agility, and dexterity. Rank refers to adventurer rank, which is increased by killing monsters. The clerk who who gave Nova his adventurer¡¯s plate also went through all the adventurer ranks and requirements with him:
Adventurer Ranks
RankRequirement
WoodLevel 1 Warrior or Mage. 100 confirmed kills of Wood-Rank monsters.
Stone1000 confirmed kills of Wood-Rank monsters inside the Wood-Ranked floors of a dungeon.
CopperLevel 2 Warrior or Mage. 100 confirmed kills of Copper-Rank monsters.
Bronze1000 confirmed kills of Copper-Rank monsters inside the Copper-Ranked floors of a dungeon.
IronLevel 3 Warrior or Mage. 100 confirmed kills of Iron-Rank monsters.
Steel1000 confirmed kills of Iron-Rank monsters inside the Iron-Ranked floors of a dungeon.
GoldLevel 4 Warrior or Mage. 100 confirmed kills of Gold-Rank monsters.
Platinum1000 confirmed kills of Gold-Rank monsters inside the Gold-Ranked floors of a dungeon.
MithrilLevel 5 Warrior or Mage. 1000 confirmed kills of Mithril-Rank monsters inside the Mithril-Ranked floors of a dungeon.
AdamantineLevel 6 Warrior or Mage. 1000 confirmed kills of Adamantine-Rank monsters inside the Adamantine-Ranked floors of a dungeon.
DiamondLevel 7 Warrior or Mage. 1000 confirmed kills of Diamond-Rank monsters inside the Diamond-Ranked floors of a dungeon.
ElementiumLevel 8 Warrior or Mage. 10 confirmed kills of a Elementium-Ranked Boss.
GodwoodLevel 9 Warrior or Mage. 10 confirmed kills of a Godwood-Ranked Boss.
GodsteelLevel 9 Warrior or Mage. 10 confirmed kills of a Godsteel-Ranked Boss.
Legend1 confirmed kill of a Legendary Boss.
Lielatha explained to Nova that all of these ranks are a type of material used in blacksmithing. The founder of the Adventurer¡¯s enclave was a famous dwarven blacksmith, and people assume he named the ranks like this so that people would understand how rare certain materials they can find in the dungeons are. Also just as the list implies, there are only wood, copper, iron, gold, mithril, adamantine, diamond, elementium, godwood, and godsteel ranked monsters with only elementium, godwood, and godsteel containing boss type monsters. However the Legendary rank is¡­ legendary. Whether or not they can even be found inside dungeons, no one knows save for those who have killed them. The level system however, was something different from adventurer ranks as it has to do with the training Warriors and Mages undergo. For warriors to level up, they had to slowly fuse the mana that comes from the world into their blood streams. For every 10% that is fused, the warrior goes up a level. For mages, they had to purify the soul energy within them by channeling mana through it. In doing so they would be able to increase the amount of elemental energy they could control using their soul energy. Similarly, for every 10% of their soul that is purified, they would go up a level. The higher the percentage goes, the harder it gets, and after 90% progress takes years to even gain one more percent. All this information only served to further hype Nova up towards becoming strong. However, no matter how hard he pushed, he still couldn¡¯t get anyone to train him because he was too young. Even when he pestered Leilatha, Anna, or Amber to teach him how to fight and be strong they would tell him he was too young. To remember the promise that he had to learn everything Leilatha wanted to teach him. Eventually they told him that when he turned six years of age they would begin training him, as that was the customary age to begin the minimal amount of training for children who come from families of fighters. But finally, Nova could see a finish line in the long wait that had plagued him. He only had to reach six years of age.. But he didn¡¯t even really know when his birthday was.. When he asked Leilatha about this, they too realized the hole in their promise. And so, although they were unsure as to when his actual birthday was, they simply agreed that his birthday would become the day they found him, and then two years from that day is when he would be old enough to be trained. Meanwhile, he pursued everything he could about learning to be an adventurer. He learned the basic skills of camping, skinning, tracking, reading and writing, sneaking, and perception from Leilatha. Although Nova already knew well how to track and sneak from his mother, some of the things Lielatha pointed out gave him a better grasp on it. He learned how to identify a lot of the known herbs and ingredients useful for making potions, and even how to make a lot of basic potions from Muiredon. He learned what the mental aura is, how to control it, and to use it against his enemies from Anna. She also taught him weapon and armor maintenance which she said was essential to do while going on long expeditions. He learned how to identify what kinds of things found in the wilderness are edible based on their look, smell, and touch along with how to cook using the ingredients you could find while traveling from Amber. Also, in an attempt to spend more time with him, she secretly taught him ways to stretch his body and to practice his breathing so he could keep a calm mind during battles. By telling him that it was a form of training for getting stronger, he was rather excited every time he would go visit Amber. Anderson however, taught Nova music. Anderson told Nova that while knowing how to do everything else he was learning was important, a key factor in how well a party of adventurers would do on a trip is how good their mood was. And the best way to improve the mood is without a doubt through music. Or so Anderson says. So Nova spent his time learning all the different cords to remember; how to identify a note by its pitch; how to play the guitar; and how to control his vocal cords to sing well. And just like that a year and a half went by. ¡­. It¡¯s currently morning, but life does not rest in this outpost of adventure and those who have things to do are always up bright and early. Currently the group is sitting a round table booth, with Nova as usual sitting in Lielatha¡¯s lap. Bahina is at the edge of the booth, eating raw meat from a plate on the floor. In the one and a half years this group hasn¡¯t gone outside the outpost to kill monsters, but their cash fund could only last them so long. So, despite their wishes (mostly Lielatha¡¯s) to stay with Nova, they had decided they would ask another party they were familiar with, and knew would be staying in the outpost for a month or two, to look after Nova. Today was the day they would be heading out, however Nova showed no signs of being sad.. Instead he was brutally begging for them to take them a long with him. ¡°Pllleeasseee.. I¡¯ll be really useful! I can help Muiredon pick herbs or Amber cook the meals or help pack and unpack the camping equipment! I didn¡¯t learn all this just for show, you know?! It¡¯s a bit unfair to leave a party member behind, you know?!¡± But everybody could only give him an awkward smile.. once again they would have to quell his requests to take them with them. It¡¯s not that they didn¡¯t want to though, it¡¯s just that they all still remembered what the Adventurer¡¯s Hall Head had told them when they first brought him here.. By no means was Nova allowed to leave the outpost. ¡°Nova, please.. We can¡¯t take you wish us. You surviving in the forest was already incredibly lucky, but the dungeon is far more dangerous than the forest. You.. you would only be a burden to us.¡± (Forgive me, Nova! It hurts so much to even say it¡­) (Leilatha) ¡°A burden.. So I¡¯m just a burden, huh.. fine.. I get it.. I¡¯m always going to be useless..¡± Nova slouches down in depression, hiding his face from Leilatha. ¡°Ah! Th-that¡¯s not true! I didn¡¯t mean it like that! You¡¯re not useless Nova! You¡¯re incredibly smart and talented. It¡¯s ju-¡± (Leilatha) ¡°Then you¡¯ll take me?!¡± He immediately beams up at Leilatha while smiling widely in excitement. ¡°Ah, geez. I don¡¯t even know how to say no anymore..¡± (Leilatha) ¡°Hnn, maybe we could just sneak him out.. hide him in a bag or maybe inside my clothes..¡± (Amber) ¡°*Tsk* Shameful women. And then where do you suppose who hide this giant lump of fur on the ground over here, eh?¡± (Anderson) ¡°Hmm.. You¡¯ll fly her out?¡± (Amber) ¡°Haah? Do I look like a berserker to you? Carrying her for one foot would be an incredible feat, let alone several hundred.¡± (Anderson) ¡°Hmm, Nova. I know it¡¯s hard to accept, but we really, really can¡¯t take you. But one day in the future, we¡¯ll definitely go adventuring together, okay?¡± Anna gives Nova a pleading look, saying that she really doesn¡¯t have a choice. ¡°.. You really can¡¯t take me at all..?¡± (Nova) ¡°We really can¡¯t Nova. Even if we wanted to, we wouldn¡¯t be able to. But like Anna said, in the future we¡¯ll go adventuring together all the time!¡± (Leilatha) ¡°.. Fine. I¡¯ll.. stay here.¡± (Nova) Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°*sigh* Thank you for understanding Nova.¡± (Leilatha) The next few minutes are spent with the adventurers discussing their plans, arrangements, and gear needed for their trip to make sure everything was in order. However, during their talks, a group of guards walks into the inn. The inn goes quiet.. these are the guards of the Adventurer¡¯s Hall. Guards that rarely ever go outside unless to catch a criminal adventurer or welcome a high-ranking adventurer to the outpost. They walk up to the table Nova and the others are sitting at. ¡°Nova is to come with us to the Adventurer¡¯s Hall to meet the Head. No refusal is allowed. Please follow us.¡± (Guard) All of their faces are in shock.. could this be.. someone has finally come for Nova?! ¡°Ehm, I understand Nova has to go, but I also want to go. As his guardian I wish to be present for him if there is any difficulties.¡± (Leilatha) ¡°That¡¯s fine. As long as Nova comes.¡± (Guard) ¡°I see, well then. We¡¯ll be back guys, but please put preparations for the trip on hold until we return.¡± (Leilatha) Everyone gives a silent nod, not knowing what to say or too afraid to ask to come along as well. The guards escort Leilatha, Nova, and Bahina out the doors of the inn¡­ instant pandemonium. Talks and discussions of what¡¯s going on instantly break out, everyone trying to figure out why the head was to talk to Nova. People repeatedly come up to their table to try to ask them if they know anything, but they can only shake their heads in silence. Truly such bad timing, and bad luck. They had long ago believed that there was no longer a person coming for Nova, as they hadn¡¯t heard anything else from the Adventurer¡¯s Hall Head. When Nova turned six they would begin training him, and then ask the Head to allow them to take him out adventuring with them.. But all of these plans came to a standstill as their worries set in once again.. ¡­. Leilatha, Nova, and Bahina arrive once again in front of the doors to the office of the Head of the Adventurer¡¯s Hall. The guards open the doors, and the familiar office greets them once again. Only this time, aside from the large, muscular man with large horns protruding from his head, are two other men. The moment she sees there are other people, Leilatha tightens her grip on Nova¡¯s hand. Both of the men are facing away from her, so she can¡¯t see their faces. One of them is extremely well built. Not incredibly muscular like the Head of the Hall, but with such defined muscles that he looks incredibly lean and powerful. Currently he wears a simple set of black everyday clothes. He has short black hair, even shorter than Nova¡¯s but with a similar fluffiness. He has two ears of the cat-people race, but his tail is only a stub as if it¡¯s been cut off. He seems taller than most men of the catpeople race, she thinks to herself. The other stands quite tall however, with long flowing red hair and pale red, pointy ears that belong to fire elves. He wears a long, decorative, red robe hiding the features of his body underneath. The air around him seems to hold a superior feeling that belongs to the elder elves that live in the Elf-Forest Kingdom of Falirwe that Lielatha is familiar with. She leads Nova up to the desk of the Hall Head, but she doesn¡¯t sit down like last time. She simply waits until someone speaks to her. When she gets there, she senses that both of the two men are looking over at Nova. Unable to resist her curiosity, she took glances over.. The first man has the same golden eyes as Nova! ¡°Ah? Could you be related to Nova?!¡± Unable to contain her shock at the development, she blurts out this question. The man looks up from Nova for a moment, looking into her eyes. Then he looks back to Nova. He walks over to him, and reaches out towards the necklace on Nova¡¯s chest.. but Nova flinches back towards Leilatha, hiding behind her. ¡°*Ehem* Can I.. ask what you summoned Nova for?¡± This time the red-haired elf man walks over, watching Nova who¡¯s behind Leilatha. ¡°Pardon us, miss. We should introduce ourselves. I am Myrin Ruunya and this man here is-¡± ¡°Richard.¡± The black-haired man interrupts. ¡°.. Right. As you guessed this man is indeed related to.. Nova. He is his uncle from his father¡¯s side. I am also related to Nova. I am his grandfather, from his mother¡¯s side. I can assure you we don¡¯t mean any harm to him.¡± Leilatha is shocked. The name Myrin Ruunya is quite famous in Falirwe, as one of the elders of the Ruunya clan which is known for its powerful fire magic. How could she not know this name, but this man is also Nova¡¯s grandfather?! ¡°Uhm, Nova.. These two men want to greet you, they won¡¯t hurt you. I¡¯m sure they have plenty of stories to tell you as well.¡± She tries to coax Nova out from behind her. She is still wary of any developments that could happen that would part her and Nova, but she can at least for now see how the situation plays out. Nova, seeing Leilatha give him the go ahead, walks out from behind her. He stands before the two men, staring at them. Nova knew well that although his mother would always be his mother, he had another mother. The mother who had given birth to him. And beside her was a man called his father, and the brother of his father would be an uncle while the sister would be an aunt. Then the father of his mother or father would be his grandfather and beside him would be his grandmother. He understood this, but to him, his mother would always be his mother and Bahina would always be his sister. He had thought of how it would be to meet his birth parents, whether he would be able to like them or not. He thought about what kind of story could¡¯ve lead to them getting separated. He wondered if he would be capable of having two mother¡¯s, and what that would be like. But standing before him right now were two individuals he had never given any thought to meeting. His uncle and his grandfather. What should he say? What should he do? What exactly does it mean to have an uncle or a grandfather? Are they expecting something of him? Why do they just keep staring? What is he supposed to do¡­? ¡°Nova..¡± The man called Richard kneels down to Nova¡¯s height, and looks him in the eye. ¡°Nova, what do you want to be when you get older?¡± ¡°An adventurer.¡± He replies bluntly. To him, his entire mind is filled with nothing but the life of adventure. There is no debate, question, or doubt within him that would lead him away from being an adventurer. ¡°An adventurer, huh.. Tell me Nova, do you want to be strong? Strong enough to explore all of the places of Elementia?¡± Richard asks him, although not with a curious tone, but one as if asking a question that can only be answered with a yes or no. ¡°Yes. I want to be strong like Liela.¡± He replies again. Behind him Lielatha gives a warm smile, while watching Nova. She too wanted Nova to become strong, and to be his role model was truly heart warming for her. ¡°Like Liela?¡± He gazes up at Lielatha, sending shivers down her spine. ¡°Liela is not very strong. You could become much stronger than her, Nova.¡± ¡°... Stronger than Liela?¡± ¡°Much stronger.¡± ¡°... Then.. you want to train me?¡± This time Myrin responds, ¡°Mmm, at least he can use his head. Yes, Nova, we want to train you. Will you come with us?¡± (Go with them? Then..they want me to leave Liela and the others? As if! Liela is much closer to family than these two goons. I¡¯ll see if I can take Liela and the others with me, if not then I definitely won¡¯t go.) ¡°Can I take Liela and the others with me?¡± ¡°¡±No.¡±¡± Both men answer sternly. ¡°... Then I¡¯ll have to refuse. I will not leave Liela.¡± ¡°I see.. Well.. We already decided we¡¯ll take you anyway, so you never really had a choice. I just wanted to see your response.¡± Myrin answers casually, as if the conversation is as casual as discussing dinner. ¡°W-wha, you can¡¯t just take him by force! He belongs to our party. Unless you plan on insulting the Adventurer¡¯s Enclave, don¡¯t even think twice about trying to steal Nova.¡± Leilatha, infuriated at this response, pulls Nova to her side. Myrin who¡¯s about to say something is halted by Richard raising his hand, causing Myrin to give an annoyed expression. ¡°Leila. Nova has a lot of potential, and the world is much bigger than you can imagine. While I was in far away place almost six years ago, my younger brother was involved with a rebellion in this kingdom. During that time, I was not able to protect my younger brother, and he ended up losing not only his life but also his wife¡¯s. When I returned, discovering that my brother was dead¡­ I was truly at a loss.. but there was one rumor that gave me a way of honoring my brother, since I could not seek vengeance for him against the Pendragon clan. That was the rumor that his wife ran into the forest with a child, a child that was supposedly my brother¡¯s son. However when the soldiers caught her, there was no child with her. Many say that there was never a child, or that she killed the child before the soldiers could, or that she hid the child somewhere. And even though I searched, I could not find any clues as to where this child was or if it even existed at all. In the end, I requested that if any adventurer¡¯s find a child with golden eyes within the forest, that the Head here send me a letter. To think that it would take so many years though, I had already given up hope. But here he is, the child of my brother. One of the few remaining of my clan, but also the only one who is closest to me in family. I know that this request is selfish, but please, let me train him. What he does with the strength I teach him, will be up to him, but in place of his father I would like to train him.¡± ¡°*sigh* Leila, I am the same. My daughter followed this child¡¯s father into this troublesome kingdom, and it cost her her life. I too wish to honor her by training Nova, so if you would please, let me train him as well.¡± Lielatha opens her mouth.. then closes it.. opens.. then closes.. Before her are two incredibly powerful men, bowing deeply to her.. but they want to take Nova. (To think Nova¡¯s parents had such a story.. I can feel that neither of them are deceiving me, and truly in my mind giving Nova to them makes sense.. But in my heart.. How can I give him up so easily? But if I don¡¯t give him up.. won¡¯t I be the one that¡¯s acting selfish? Nova is only a child, and I am only a Bronze-Ranked adventurer. I¡¯m not actually suited to teach Nova in anyway, and what if he has a good affinity for magic? I won¡¯t be able to teach him magic at all. By keeping Nova with me, wouldn¡¯t I be hindering his growth? With the guidance of these two men, he could probably grow incredibly fast and become a lot stronger than he would with me teaching him.. Is there really no other way..? Why does this hurt so much..) ¡°.. N-Nova.. listen..¡± Lielatha¡¯s voice croaks under the strain of trying to go against her own feelings, ¡°I think.. going with these two men is the best option for you.¡± ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to leave Liela! Why does Liela say such sad things? You obviously don¡¯t mean what you say!¡± ¡°Nova, please hear me out, okay? It¡¯s just as this man said, I am not actually that strong in comparison to the vast world out there. In truth I¡¯m only average, but these two men are more powerful than anybody within this outpost. They could teach you how to become incredibly strong, and then you could explore the parts of the wilderness that even I cannot go. And Nova, please don¡¯t think this is goodbye, we will definitely see each other again you know? Elves have long lives, so I¡¯ll wait for as long as it takes, okay?¡± ¡°*sob* But.. I don¡¯t wanna leave.. I want to go adventuring with Liela..*sob*¡± (*sigh* Nova¡­ please, this is already so hard.. you¡¯re breaking my heart.) ¡°Eh? And who says we won¡¯t go adventuring together? Did I not just say this isn¡¯t goodbye? When you get stronger, you better come find me otherwise I¡¯m going to hunt you down, okay? We¡¯ll go on lots of adventures together, but before then I need you to get strong. If you¡¯re not strong enough, I won¡¯t go on adventures with you.¡± ¡°Do you promise? When I get strong, you¡¯ll definitely join my party and go on adventures with me?¡± ¡°I promise. I swear upon my very soul that I will join your party and go on adventures with you. But only if you get strong. Do you understand, Nova?¡± ¡°I¡­ I understand..¡± Nova and Lielatha embrace each other, sobbing into each other¡¯s clothes. Their promises of training together and exploring the wilderness with the rest of the group were shattered. With the passing of time, who could say if the group would still be there when Nova finishes training. But as long as Lielatha would still be waiting for him, he definitely wouldn¡¯t give up. Meanwhile Richard and Myrin are watching the two of them. The Hall Head has turned around to look out the window as quiet sniffles could be heard coming from the other side of his chair. After a minute or two, Nova calms down and they release each other. Nova walks before Richard and Myrin, ¡°I would like to accept your offers to train me¡­ Please teach me.¡± He says as he bows his head, trying to suppress the thoughts of being separated from his friends. Richard and Myrin both smile, ¡°We won¡¯t go easy on you, Nova.¡± ¡°We¡¯re leaving in an hour.¡± ¡°Eh?!¡±
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V1: C8: Scarlet and Azure Hello again readers! Another chapter is here, and its time to enjoy it. This is the beginning of the training arc, and the beginning of what I want to call a progressive time skip. There will be stories about different points in the training arc in the next couple chapters, and at the end of it I will conclude V1. Then V2 will begin, and yes, there will be something school related. I hope you guys enjoy the read, also thanks to everyone who followed! I''m happy to already have over 100 followers, it''s really amazing :). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V1: Wild Child C8: Scarlet and Azure Currently Nova is with Bahina in his room at the inn, packing gear that he wants to take with him when he leaves. ¡°Nova, are you sure about this? I know you want to be strong, but do you really need to leave Lielatha..?¡± (Not that I¡¯m really upset about it, this means I get to spend more time with my Nova. But if Nova gets too depressed..) ¡°It¡¯s fine.. I know I want to stay with Lielatha and the others, but.. They all stayed in the outpost this entire time to look after me. They didn¡¯t have to, but they did. And they taught me a lot about being an adventurer, so in a way they already did train me. But in doing so did they not also give up their own lives as adventurers? I¡¯ve been holding them back this entire time. I realized this when they said they needed to go on a trip to Shadow Deep. They must have been having a hard time with their money, while I was blindly enjoying my time with them, so I wanted to help them and really wanted to go on their trip with them. But I¡¯m still too young and weak. I like Lielatha, almost as much as I like mom.. but I don¡¯t want to be a burden to her. Just like how I didn¡¯t want to be a burden to Raksha, Raja, Suri, and you when we were cubs. I will get strong if I go with Uncle and Grandpa, and when I do get strong I¡¯ll definitely come back and return everything that they did for me tenfold. So it¡¯s fine Bahina.. This is a good thing.¡± ¡°N-Nova..¡± Bahina not only hearing his words, but also feeling the emotions roiling inside him through their bond.. Even if she could feel his emotions with the bond, she wasn¡¯t able to read his mind to know what he was thinking. But for him to have thought about something even she didn¡¯t think about.. it¡¯s truly shocking how mature Nova was under the surface. ¡°Alright! That should just about do it, everything I¡¯ll need for adventuring! I have herbs and potions to heal any wounds, I have ingredients for cooking meals along with a full set of cooking equipment, several changes of clothes, a map of the all the known wildernesses, a compass to know the directions, a guitar for music, a combination of a sword, dagger, bow, and a couple quivers of arrows, and a decent tent with a bedroll." All in all, he had filled three adventurer packs full of gear that he had collected of the past year and a half that he thought he would need to go adventuring. Adventurer packs are also magically enchanted to hold more than a normal pack, such that you could have extra room to store loot from monsters beside all your essential gear. ¡°Hmm.. I guess it really does help to have a party to carry things.. I¡¯ll just have to ask Uncle and Grandpa to help me carry these..¡± Bahina watches him begin moving these full packs, sighs inwardly.. (I guess he¡¯s still a silly little brother, even if he can be mature sometimes..) ¡­. In the ground floor of the inn, Nova¡¯s uncle and grandfather are sitting a table with the Leilatha, Amber, Anna, Anderson, and Muiredon. Leilatha is staring blankly at the table while lost in her thoughts, but Amber and Anna are giving the two men who are stealing Nova away the evil eye. As if trying to kill these two men and make them go away with nothing but their eyes, they burn their eyes into these two men. Anderson silently waits with his arms cross and staring at the ceiling. Muiredon meanwhile, is tinkering with some fashion of metallic gear pieces at the edge of the booth. *Thump.. Thump.. Thump..* Slowly, something heavy is making it¡¯s way down the stairs. Everyone looks over, and they see Nova slowly pulling down three large adventurer packs down the steps while sweating and breathing roughly. When Nova spots them at the table from halfway down the stairs, everyone is giving him a bewildered look except for his uncle, who is smiling amusedly. ¡°Can *huff* I get *huff* some help?¡± He pleads with them. ¡°Nova you could of just asked me for help, here..¡± Bahina picks up the three packs in her mouth, and lifts them into the air with Nova dangling from their straps. ¡°Ah! Bahina! Put me down!¡± Everyone begins laughing, breaking the tense mood that was there earlier. Even Lielatha smiles at seeing Nova wriggling about in mid-air while Bahina carries him down the stairs. ¡­. Nova is standing before Lielatha and the others at the edge of the outpost. Behind him are Bahina, his uncle, his grandfather, and a large eagle, the Skylord Eagle, that is his uncle¡¯s companion. ¡°Nova, make sure to remember everything I taught you okay? And don¡¯t fight anything dangerous. Don¡¯t go in any dungeons either.. And you two. Don¡¯t you dare do anything to hurt Nova. I don¡¯t care how powerful you are, I will still hunt you down and take your manhood away from you. And..¡± ¡°Ah, Liela stop.. You¡¯re being scary.¡± ¡°.. Sorry, Nova. It¡¯s just..¡± ¡°I know, I¡¯ll be safe. And I¡¯ll definitely come find you when I¡¯m stronger. As long as you¡¯re waiting for me, I¡¯ll definitely come back.¡± Leilatha knowing that she got too worked up, smiles at being consoled by a young Nova. ¡°You better. Don¡¯t forget our promise Nova, otherwise I will hunt you down and make you regret ignoring me.¡± She playfully rubs her hand through his hair, knowing that it will be a very long time before she¡¯ll get to do so again. ¡°You two.. don¡¯t forget about me! I want to come adventuring with you too Nova! So you better come get me as well if I¡¯m not with Liela.¡± (Amber) ¡°Me too! If you leave me out, I¡¯ll feel insulted you know?¡± (Anna) ¡°Haha, I¡¯ll come find you myself Nova. When you¡¯re old enough we¡¯ll go travel to towns and play concerts. Then you¡¯ll really understand that I wasn¡¯t kidding about those miles of women lining up for you.. I can¡¯t wait, honestly..¡± (Anderson) Lastly, Muiredon walks up to Nova. He takes something out of his pocket, and places it in Nova¡¯s hand. ¡°Lad, this is just a small token. Shows that you¡¯re a friend of dwarves, so if you ever decide to go see the mountains, you¡¯ll receive good treatment.¡± Although its hard to tell, you could feel that he was smiling beneath his beard. Even if it was only for a short time and he was a quiet man who didn¡¯t talk much with Nova, he still enjoyed having him as an apprentice in potion-making. It¡¯s tradition for Dwarf master¡¯s to always give their apprentices a parting gift when they leave, usually something to help them progress in their craft, but for now this was all he could give Nova. ¡°Ah! Thanks Uncle Don!¡± (Didn¡¯t even know what nickname to come up with V-V) Muiredon nods, and steps back to the others. ¡°Alright, I think that¡¯s enough of your goodbyes. We need to go now Nova, no time to waste with your sixth birthday coming up.¡± (Myrin) All the adventurer¡¯s glare at him, but he doesn¡¯t react to them. ¡°Ok. I¡¯ll be going now, so um.. look forward to when I come back! I¡¯ll definitely be strong!¡± He says while walking backwards and waving at his friends, fighting back the tears. While he¡¯s waving at them, he¡¯s suddenly plucked off the ground and thrown on the back of the Skylord Eagle. Without warning, the eagle begins flapping it¡¯s wings, rising into the air with Nova, his uncle, and his grandfather on its back. ¡°Ah! What about Bahina?!¡± Nova is watching Bahina frantically leaping up to try to catch the eagle who¡¯s taking Nova away. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she¡¯s coming..¡± The eagle swoops down, catching Bahina in it¡¯s claws. ¡°WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!¡± (Bahina) And they fly off into the horizon.. ¡­. They¡¯ve been flying for about five minutes now, and Nova has managed to gain enough balance to sit in an upright position on the eagle¡¯s back. ¡°So, um, Grandp-¡± ¡°I am your master, boy. So you will call me as such.¡± ¡°... Master.. Where exactly are we heading?¡± ¡°Ah, right.¡± With a flick of his wrist three adventurer packs appear on the back of the eagle. ¡°These are your packs right Nova?¡± ¡°Yes Master.¡± ¡°Alright, and you have an Adventurer¡¯s Plate as well, right? Take it out for me.¡± Nova obediently takes the Adventurer¡¯s Plate out of his pocket and hands it over to his grandfather. ¡°Alright.¡± His uncle immediately picks up the bags and throws them off the side of the eagle, and his grandfather sends a massive pulse of mana into the plate, shattering it to dust that is blown away in the wind. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°HAH?!? MY STUFF?!? Why did you do that?!¡± In a mere second, everything Nova had collected over the past year and a half at the adventurer¡¯s outpost is gone, falling down to the earth below. ¡°It¡¯s better to live off the land with your own two hands than relying on tools like that.¡± (Uncle) ¡°And numbers only serve as a distraction from your training, best not to have such a useless rock telling you your own worth.¡± (Grandfather) ¡°*sob* My dreams.. my achievements.. so cruel.. *sob*¡± Nova cries while leaning over the side of the eagle, staring at the ground below them. ¡°Hm, so where do you think we should start? What about the Greater Sun Plains?¡± (Uncle) ¡°I was thinking of the Jade Jungle over to the east, should be a stable enough environment.¡± (Grandfather) ¡°True, but we don¡¯t want to make it too easy on him. How about the Graveyard Swamp?¡± (Uncle) ¡°OY?! Aren¡¯t these all incredibly dangerous wildernesses you¡¯re naming?!¡± (Nova) ¡°Nova, don¡¯t yell at your Masters. Also, don¡¯t sweat over such trivial things, we¡¯re thinking right now. Ah I know, how about the frozen tundra that the Adventurer¡¯s Enclave hasn¡¯t made known to the public yet?¡± (Grandfather) ¡°Ooo, that would be good. Let¡¯s start there then.¡± (Uncle) They both look at Nova with mischievous smiles, and cruel eyes. ¡°Ah.. I¡¯m sorry Liela.. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be making it back..¡± Nova cowers away from the two of them, backpedalling along the back of the eagle. The eagle flies off to the north-west, leaving behind the likes of the Eternal Night Forest and the plains of Pendragonia¡­ ¡­. Far into the wilderness to the north-west of the Beast-Plain Kingdom, beyond the giant trees of the Eternal Night Forest and the vast plains of the Greater Sun Plains, is cold, barren land. The cold wind blows through the terrain, freezing any and all life it comes across. The soil has long since been frozen solid, and the plant life has been cased in a world of ice. Deep inside this terrain is a steep cliff that leads up to a plateau. At the base of this cliff, there is a small cave that looks like nothing more than a pinhole in the face of this cliff. Inside this cave are five living beings, who have miraculously survived the harsh cold of the land. These livings beings are Nova, his uncle, his grandfather, Bahina, and Tommy (his uncle¡¯s eagle). Nova is currently sitting in a posture with his back straight, his legs crossed, and both his arms resting upon his legs. His breath comes in and out slowly, but with a good warmth to it. Bahina is sitting next to him on her hind legs, breathing in a similar fashion, slow and warm. Both of their eyes are shut, but there is no strain on them, as if they are simply asleep. It has been two months since Nova was brought to the tundra, and his grandfather immediately took over beginning his training. The most important thing right now was to prep Nova for awakening his elemental when he turns six years of age. Unlike the adventurer¡¯s they have a fairly close estimate as to when his birthday will be, although not an absolutely certain date. The strange was, that Bahina was supposed to have reached her sixth year before Nova, but surprisingly her awakening hadn¡¯t come by the time his grandfather had said his would come. So they were both currently learning how to feel the mana in the world around them, to learn its flow and current. To be able to see it as though it were a physical thing. To bring them closer to the power that would awaken the elementals sleeping inside them, as the closer you were to awakening the better you could sense mana although you still wouldn¡¯t be able to control it. The reason for that is because the elemental sleeping inside them is constantly absorbing mana, to create their forms within them. The elementals themselves were in control of the mana within their body, not allowing the owner to use it. Kind of like a parasite, but it¡¯ll be repaid later on. The time was coming closer and closer for them to awaken.. minutes.. seconds.. the it began. Not just for Nova, but for Bahina as well. At the exact same time. While in their meditative thoughts, they could suddenly see the mana in the world around them begin collapsing on top of them. It felt as though a giant was slowly pushing down on them, increasing the strength of its push as each second flew by. They focused on watching the mana, trying to understand everything that happened, but it soon became hard to breath.. then it became hard to think.. then it became impossible. Both of their consciousness were once again ripped from their bodies, pulled through vasts amounts of space. The memories of everything that happened during the Hunter¡¯s Bond flooded into them. The pink bamboo, the massive tiger, the incredible flame, the string of their soul, the burning heat as they fused together. Even now they could see the string that connected them together as they flew through the endless space. Then their focus was forced somewhere else. They saw a large sea of red grass. On the sea of red grass were two young tiger cubs, one of red flame and another of blue flame. They saw the two cubs play together, and as they ran about the sea of red grass they slowly grew in size. As they watched the two cubs grew up into young adult tigers, and their childish playing turned into a juvenile romance. They spent their days together traveling through many different places beyond the red sea of grass. Through orange jungles, yellow deserts, crimson volcanoes, green forests, blue canyons, and a multitude of other places. Then they returned to the sea of red grass. By now they were adults and were madly in love. But when they returned, what greeted their love wasn''t welcoming gazes. Large groups of red and blue tigers surrounded them, separated on opposite sides. The largest tigers from each side roared angrily at the other and also at the couple. Both sides were ready to launch themselves into war, claiming the other side was using one of the couple to trick the other. Both of members of the couple were heirs to their respective families, but they had fallen for each other, members of the enemy family. In effort to prevent the war, the couple split apart, their love wrapped in the chains of duty to their families. They returned to the sides of their family, and convinced them to leave without war. And so the two abandoned their love, closing off their hearts to never forget the other. As time went on they became the leaders of their families, and took on the duties of managing them. They became powerful, and were respected across the Elemental Plain of Fire, but their hearts always remained closed off. The scene changed, to the inside of den. A den that both Bahina and Nova knew well. Inside this den was a young child with thin red and black-striped hair sleeping next to a young tiger cub with white and pale-blue-striped fur. As they watched, blue and red fire energy began to seep into the image. The forms of two tiger cubs overlay-ed the images of the child and cub. One of a pure red flame and the other of a pure blue flame. The flames moved about, trying to connect to other flame only to be blocked by a thin barrier. The image changed again, this time the scene was inside the inn back in the Adventurer¡¯s Outpost. Inside the room Nova and Bahina were sitting on opposite sides of the Bond Scroll with their hands placed on top. Once again the images of the two young tigers overlay-ed on top of them. They flames rampaged about, trying to reach the other, to once again be able to connect to the other. Slowly, a string comes out of Nova and Bahina¡¯s chest, joining them together. Then, as if waiting for this moment, the two flames merge. Like a brilliant, lively dance, they merge and swirl around both Nova and Bahina. For four days and nights, these flames dance together, with each movement slowly merging the flames together. Until finally, the dance slows down to a stop. The blue flames coming from Bahina swirl towards Nova, and the red flames coming from Nova swirl towards Bahina. They move calmly and peacefully. The image changes again, Nova sees a young adult tiger of red flame, ¡°I am Asha, Queen of the Scarlet Flame Tiger family.¡± Bahina sees a young adult tiger of blue flame, ¡°I am Khan, King of the Azure Flame Tiger family.¡± ¡°¡±We greet you, masters, and thank you for allowing us to love again.¡±¡±
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V1: C9: Time Flows, People Grow V1: Wild Child C9: Time Flows, People Grow What does it mean to be a warrior? To be a warrior is to have a strong body. A body that can move at speeds capable of causing enemies to appear in slow motion; a body that is capable of lifting mountains; a body that is capable of withstanding the blows of the strongest monsters; a body that can recover from any wound no matter how severe. What does it mean to be a mage? To be a mage is to have a strong soul. A soul that can control enormous quantities of mana; a soul that can bend the elemental energies to your will; a soul that can overwhelm the minds of your enemies; a soul that can protect your mind from the cruelest of enemies. Then how does one become a warrior? To become a warrior, one must fuse the mana of the world around them into their own bloodstream, to empower their body to new heights; one must train in the ways of the weapon, to control it as an extension of one¡¯s own body; one must train their body to the point of absolute dominance so that their body will move exactly how they want it. Then how does one become a mage? To become a mage, one must purify their soul by channeling the pure mana of the world into it; one must study the laws of the elements, to learn how they move and how they can be used to aid you; one must learn the arts of controlling mana, to create the weapons they need to fighting with the elements. Then how does one become a mage and a warrior? One doesn¡¯t. To fuse the mana into their body or to channel the mana into the soul. One must choose a path, and one must follow it to its limits. Only then can one become the other, and become both a mage and a warrior. Otherwise it would be a waste of time, as the training would be too slow. Unless that one is Nova. ¡­. Starting at dawn, Nova would stretch his body, removing the tautness in his muscles. Then he would run. He would run with weights on his body in feral form. He would run until his legs felt like they burned every time they moved. He would run until even moving one step was like crossing a mountain. Then he would stop. He would get down on his hands and toes, and push against the ground. He would push against the crushing force of the earth pulling him down. He would push until his arms were being scorched in a burning hellfire. He would push until the mountain of force brought him down to the ground, unable to get up. Then he would roll on to his back. He would bend his legs, touching his feet flat on the ground. Then he would lift his upper body up. He would lift it up to the skies, he felt like, and bring himself back down, resisting the pull of the earth wanting to bring him down. He would continue like this until the core of his being screamed in pain. He would lift and drop until he couldn¡¯t even feel the remainder of his body save for his head. Then he would lay on the ground.. His skin would be red from strain, and the steam of his sweat would rise off him. He would lay there.. close his eyes.. and feel the mana in the world around him. He could feel the feral blood within devouring the mana, growing stronger with each bite, thickening inside him. He would breathe in slow, deep breaths. Then exhale just as slow, just as deep. Each time streams of mana would flow into him, and then out of him in a lesser amount. His muscles would slowly reform themselves, changing ever so slightly each time. He would then open his eyes and it would already be nearly noon. He would head back to the cave and eat for a few minutes, while resting himself. The he would climb the cliff. The frigid wind would batter against his body, the cold stone would freeze his fingers, and the rough stone would cut his hands and feet. But he would overcome it, just as he did everything else. His body became accustomed to the cold, and his hands and feet became tough and easily gripped the surface of the cliff. At the top of this cliff, his uncle would wait for him. Then they would begin training in the arts of weapons. His uncle laid out a wide range of weapons, and asked for Nova to pick the one that best fit him. Nova looked over them all, and it didn¡¯t even take a second glance for him to pick the ones that suited him. He chose two swords, equal in size, shape, and weight. Dual-Swords. Nova trained in the arts of the wielding dual-swords, learning to make them feel as if they were extensions of his body. He would practice swinging them for hours, learning their forms. Then he would learn to move with them. Striking, swinging, slashing, stabbing, dodging, rolling, jumping, and every other movement his uncle wanted him to do. Then his uncle would have him spar with him. He would constantly move about, attacking his uncle. Trying all sorts of moves, to make it past his uncles defense. For hours his uncle would teach him to control the movements of his body, sword and all. To move swiftly and surely. To put all his strength into each strike, leaving no room for a waste of energy. To control the battle with his movements, as if dancing around his opponent, keeping them always one step behind him in the dance. Then he would climb back down the cliff to the cave. Inside he would greet his grandfather. His grandfather began lectures on not only magic but multiple subjects. The geography of the known world, the monsters, the languages, the kingdoms, their rulers, the cities, the citizens, war, pillaging, slavery, sex, rape, torture, cruelty, kindness, history, the wilderness, the dungeons, the beastmen, the humans, the elves, the dwarves, the monster clans, the seven great powers that created these civilizations, the elemental lords, the elemental plains, the elemental beasts, the spirits, the places spirits live, the oceans, the seas, the lakes, the monsters in them, the dungeons in them, and even the fact that beyond all of this known world was a place even more dangerous. A place he was not ready to learn about. He taught him everything, everything that he thought a person should know about the world. Both the good things and the bad things. The kindness that people can give to each other, people like Liela. The cruelty that people use to make others suffer, people like Malzar. He taught him that greed, gluttony, pride, lust, envy, sloth, and wrath exist within all people. He taught him that unless he can overcome them, he will never be able to protect those he cares about, just like how he failed to protect Nova¡¯s mother. He taught him things that made Nova weep for hours, or rage in anger. He taught him things to cause Nova to despise the world of noble¡¯s and their selfish lifestyles. Then he taught him that how he reacts when he finds himself in these situations can have greater effects to those around him. In saving one person, he could end up sentencing hundreds to their deaths. He taught him that he must control his emotions, and act with the wisdom he possesses in his head, not the feelings he has in his heart. He then taught him magic. He taught him not only about fire magic but also water, earth, wind, lightning, light, and darkness. He taught him how each and every element is important to the world, and even though fire is dominant, each and every element exists within him. He taught him that just like weapons, he must think of his spirit as extension of his body. Like an invisible appendage that can interact with the elemental energy of the world. He taught him that mana can be used to create weapons, or magical formations, that his spirit can then load the elemental energy into and create devastating effects. He taught him that to use these formations, he must have a strong mind that can visualize them. After the lectures, he had Nova meditate. Every person¡¯s meditation was different, and the only advice he could give him was to learn to visualize his soul. Learn how his soul acts, and how it moves with the flow of mana and the elements. This was something Nova was already familiar with however, as Nova had learned a soul visualization technique from his mother. Soul-Fire. A technique to ignite the energy around his soul into flames, burning the impurities out. He already knew how to meditate. He hadn¡¯t learned any form of meditation, and had never even done it before. But he could feel within himself that he knew how to do it, and he needed Bahina for it. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Whenever it became time for him to meditate, Bahina would return from hunting monsters in the tundra. She would join him by curling her body around him, entering a meditative trance. Within the plane of their connected souls, they would appear as wisps of light with a string connecting them. Young tigers of blue and red flame would be beside them, and they would begin to dance. Immense amounts of fire energy would build up around their dance, as it merged into a spiraling sphere of red and blue flame. While the elementals danced to the roaring flame, Bahina and Nova would dance in the opposite direction. As they danced mana would seep into the plane of their souls and create another spiraling sphere within the flames, each step of the dance slowly but surely causing the light of their souls to get brighter and brighter. Every time it got brighter, a bit more mana would seep into their plane, and more fire energy would gather around the dancing elementals. They would continue this meditative trance, free of the need to sleep or eat as their bodies were nourished by the energies of fire and mana. After the first day of that meditation, his uncle noticed a change in Nova¡¯s movements. His feet moved differently. They moved strangely and unpredictably. If he watched them for too long he felt as if he was becoming mesmerized by watching his feet move. It was as if they were performing a strange dance.. Everyday the change became more and more apparent, until he could no longer follow the movements of Nova¡¯s feet. Everytime he thought Nova was going to move one direction, he would move in a completely different one. Everytime he thought Nova was going to lunge at him, he would back away. Three years went by. Originally, his grandfather and uncle had expected him to need almost five years to learn the basics of what they wanted to teach him. But to their surprise he surpassed those expectations. His footwork skills were already superb, and his uncle never needed to give him advice on it. His meditation was even more incredible as his soul purified at an alarming rate. He was already beginning to practice magic spells after the first six months of meditation. By the end of this third year he had a general knowledge of how to not only use all of the basic spell incantations and all of the basic fire spells, but also to how to imbue items with energy. He also completed the basic mastery of dual-swords, and combined with his footwork he was even able to land a few hits on his uncle. If he had imbued his swords with mana, he could inflict minor injures; with fire energy, he could inflict a light burn; and with soul energy.. his uncle told him never to even try it. While it would definitely be a powerful attack method, his soul would become attached a physical thing. That was unlike using it to control elemental energy because if his sword hit something, it would be same as his soul being hit. Unless his soul was a tough as an iron sword, it would not be a wise decision. His body had also become incredibly durable from the constant training, and become quite resilient against the cold temperatures. Not only that, but when combined with his feral form, his skin and fur became comparable to decently crafted thick leather from the hide of monsters. So after only three years, they moved on to the next part of training. Field experience. Not matter how much one stood on a cliff, swinging a sword, they wouldn¡¯t be on the same level as one who experienced a fight with their life on the line. Then they traveled. For one year Nova and Bahina trained in Death Valley, the largest desert wilderness near the kingdoms. They suffered through the tremendous heat that did not come from flames, making them resilient to the extreme terrain. They traveled from one end of the desert to the other without the aid of his uncle or grandfather. All the way, they fought hundreds of monsters, learning the way the monsters fought in this desert. For another year they traveled through the Jade Jungle. An extremely humid, hot jungle with a multitude of hidden monsters that lay traps waiting for prey. Again, from one end to the other they traveled. Even though this jungle was bigger than the desert, they were still given the same amount of time to journey through it. Because of their faster pace, they fell into traps, and quickly had to learn to become over-sensitive to their surroundings. Every move, sound, smell, or tremor the jungle made was caught by them, as they studied the jungle for any potential dangers. Heightening their perception and awareness, and traveling through the jungle together. The next year they traveled through the Graveyard Swamp. This one was even bigger than the Jade Jungle, but it was even harder to cross because of the terrible terrain. Here, not only were monsters trying to kill them, but the environment itself possessed hidden dangers of toxic air, quicksand, tar pools, and thorny plants. This time, they wound up being a month late. As punishment they were forced to do it again with only eight months. Oh how cruel his grandfather was¡­ But they succeeded, having become familiar with the terrain and made it out with a week to spare. However the next, trip confused Nova. He wasn¡¯t taken to a far off wilderness with nothing but monsters, but instead was brought to the northern borders of the forest and sea that lies in between the kingdoms of Falirwe and Pendragonia. ¡­. At the borders of this forest was a beach, that stretched on for miles. In front of them was the Great North Sea which no man has been able to sail across. ¡°Nova, this next challenge will test not only your skills, but also your mind and heart.¡± (Grandfather) ¡°Huh? I don¡¯t understand, what is the test?¡± ¡°Nova, to the far south are the mountains of the dwarven kingdom. East of the dwarven kingdom, is a place known as Heaven¡¯s Tower. Heaven¡¯s Tower is a school for adventurer¡¯s. It was created by one of the legendary adventurers a long time ago, and is meant to serve to challenge those who have the dreams of exploring the entirety of Elementia. No one has ever completed the Heaven¡¯s Tower, and it is considered to be the most dangerous dungeon known.¡± (Uncle) ¡°Then you want me to complete this dungeon? How will that test my heart?¡± ¡°No, we want you to travel from this point to Heaven¡¯s Tower, and enroll there. That is all.¡± (Uncle) ¡°Then what is it that is going to test my heart?¡± ¡°People will. That is all, Nova. After you graduate from Heaven¡¯s Tower, you can consider your training to be complete. Good luck.¡± When his grandfather said mentioned that people will test his heart, his face held a dark expression. But after wishing Nova luck, both he and his uncle left on top of Tommy without saying goodbye. At the beach of the Great North Sea, Nova and Bahina stand there. Nova has an understanding face. How could he not understood what his grandfather meant after he heard the countless stories of betrayal and war and slavery and all the other cruelties that people inflict upon each other. If it weren¡¯t for Lielatha and the others, Nova might¡¯ve been convinced that there is no good in people, but thankfully that was not so. Nova knew that people had the same capacity for kindness as they do for cruelty. Which one they decide to let dominate them though, was up to them. Dressed in ragged clothing and possessing nothing but two wooden swords, a necklace of his clan, and a ring from an old friend.. An almost thirteen year-old Nova began walking south.
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V2: Prologue: Shadow Princess Okay! So I made some changes to the earlier chapters to try an flesh out Nova''s skill set a little more. At first I thought I should make his first four years nothing but physical qualities that set up his character, but I decided to add a special skill that he learns from his mother. This skill is called Soul-Fire, I might explain it in detail in a later chapter, or go back and explain in an earlier chapter. Then I had an inspiration to change some of the details of the last chapter. Remember the scene where Nova, Bahina, and their elementals are dancing in their soul-realm? Well I decided to create a skill out of that to be used outside the soul-realm. That is called Dance of the Flame, which is a unique footwork technique that Nova and Bahina use. And I also elaborated more on the magic and weapon training that he did, as well as change his weapons from sword and dagger to dual-sword. Feel free to go back and read the changes for yourself, I also made some changes to the prologues of Volume 1. Now for V2! Let me know what you guys think, and I hope it doesn''t disappoint. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V2: Heaven''s Tower Prologue: Shadow Princess The Elf-Forest Kingdom, Falirwe. Elves possess a unique trait in their blood, which allows mana to flow through it with more ease than the other races. Although this trait only had an advantage in the field of magic, as their bodies were considerably weaker than other races, they could not handle the strain of mana-blood fusion to the extent that the other races could. However, their souls also had a unique trait. Their souls were more pure at birth than the other races, and they all possessed an inherent elemental affinity. Because of this, many elves went in the direction of magic. Although there were some who were exceptions, and did not possess a good talent for magic in trade for having slightly stronger bodies. And even though the Elves as a whole were considered to be one kingdom, Falirwe was vastly divided. If there was one thing elves were known for, it was for their desire to be superior to others. The elven races were divided by their elemental affinities. In the far north along the coast of the kingdom, the Water-Elves; in the north west corner near the tall trees and high cliffs, the Wind-Elves; in the central regions near the mountain range and volcanoes, the Fire-Elves; in the south western regions near the plains and deserts, the Earth-Elves; in the eastern borders in the dark forests, the Shadow-Elves; the south east regions in the crystal caves, the Light-Elves; and in the north east corner along the stormy regions of the sea, the Lightning Elves. Seven elements; seven races; seven kings. Even amongst these races, there were several clans, all who competed with each other for supremacy. ¡­. Most of Falirwe is covered in forest. Only places like the Volcanoes in the central region or the plains and deserts in the south west region were not covered by forest. Each of these regions had various amounts of elemental energy around them after being built up from the countless years of elves gathering them. The element of shadow. Some consider it to be evil, because of the dangers that lurk in the dark wildernesses. In truth, it is just an element. An energy the same as any other. The eastern forests are surrounded by this energy. The dark wood of the forests warns travelers of the danger within. The fearsome beasts frighten those who see them, even if they are not classified as monsters. The Shadow Forest, realm of the shadow-elves. In the deepest regions of the Shadow Forest, there is a long, deep crevice in the ground. A crevice that lacks even more light than the forest around it. A realm of darkness.. of shadow. This crevice is the true home of the shadow-elves. Unlike the other elven races, the shadow-elves only have one clan. The reason? Because the ruler of this one clan destroyed the rest. The Duskmere clan. Even amongst the other elven races their strength is known. In general elves have weak bodies, but still this clan raises strong warriors. With shadow and dagger, these elves possess frightening attack skills. They do not fight like the traditional style warriors, of which many mages are accustomed with, but with tricks and deceit. They are assassins. Those who hunt in the night, taking advantage of every weakness their enemy will show them. That is the strength of the Duskmere clan. ¡­. Deep in the crevice is a palace of black rock. The palace of the clan head. Alinar Duskmere. The man who countless years ago slaughtered the other shadow-elf clans, and claimed the position for his clan as the strongest of the shadow-elves. The King of Assassins. The Shadow Reaper. One of the fiercest and most powerful of the elder elves within the Kingdom of Falirwe. ¡°Why can¡¯t I go outside? This place is so depressing!¡± ¡°Honey, please.. This place isn¡¯t that bad, you¡¯re exaggerating. We have those wonderful hot springs at the lower level, remember? I recall you saying how much you enjoyed them.¡± ¡°Oh, yes. The wonderful hot springs. Please. I enjoyed them because they¡¯re the least depressing place in this damned rock hole. I don¡¯t understand why everyone seems so keen on living here.¡± ¡°It has its perks. It¡¯s almost impossible for armies to attack us, and the shadow energy around here is incredibly thick. You should know this from your training.¡± ¡°What does that have to do with me staying here though? I want to go exploring! To see the world! Auntie Esta told me stories of the plains to the west, she said theres people that look like animals, and to the south theres small people called dwarves who make really pretty weapons and armor. There¡¯s all kinds of wildernesses around the kingdoms with dungeons, and thousands of adventurers go exploring these dungeons all the time fighting monsters and discovering treasures! Why can¡¯t everyone see all these things that they¡¯re missing out on while literally living under a damned rock?¡± ¡°But dear.. The world is extremely dangerous.. I have many enemies, and if I were to let you leave then they would surely target you. An-¡± ¡°I have shadow magic for that! Don¡¯t raise such pitiful excuses against me. And you should know I¡¯m pretty strong too. You said I was even stronger than you when you were my age.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, bu-¡± ¡°Dad, pleaseee¡­¡± Yes, if you¡¯re wondering, these two are none other than Alinar Duskmere, the deadly King of Assassins, and his daughter. His daughter was born nearly twenty years ago, and the experience of being a father changed Alinar greatly. The experiences of raising her, training her, and caring for her left him a changed man. He never showed these changes in front of anybody else save for his close family, but many still suspected how much he doted on her, since he bought her so many presents. Although he never slacked off in training her, teaching her everything he knew. She still had a ways to go before she could come close to his level, but compared to the other talented shadow-elves, she was like a prodigy. Her skills were unrivaled amongst her peers, and she had long ago completed her basic training. Yet she was not cocky about herself, and she took training and fighting very seriously. She also had an unusual sense of justice for a shadow-elf. Many times she would chase down criminals within the city, becoming more of a vigilante than an assassin. But her father only found this to be funny, after all he did not care whether she was an assassin or vigilante. The only thing that mattered was that she was strong. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The only thing she lacked was field training, but her father never admitted this. He couldn¡¯t bear the thought of letting her off on her own, since he would have to stay within the clan to rule. Compared to his countless years of life, she was still just a baby. Too young, he thought to himself. Much too young. Yet her she was, asking to be let out of her cage even though he never told her about field training. ¡°*Sigh*.. Alright. But only if you take Sarya with you. I won¡¯t have you running around by yourself. And you better inform me of every place you go to. I don¡¯t want you to disappear when I don¡¯t even know where you are, okay?¡± (Hehe.. Sure, dad. I¡¯ll definitely do that.) ¡°Deal!¡± She immediately tackles Alinar with a hug, and then runs off through the palace in excitement. ¡°Hah¡­ Such an energetic daughter.. There¡¯s absolutely zero chance she¡¯s not going to get into trouble.¡± ¡­. In the dark of the Shadow Forest, two figures walk casually between the trees. Both of them share the same dark-gray skin color characteristic of the shadow-elves. One has light gray hair with jet-black eyes. She wears black hide leather that is covered by a black cloak. Two dagger hilts can be seen at her side. The other has solid black hair with mist blue eyes. She wears similar black hide leather, although seemingly better quality. A silky black cloak covers her, and, although it is black like the other¡¯s, it appears to be even darker. Another set of daggers can be found at her hips, though their hilts are shaped differently. Her face is delicate and beautiful, but her eyes appear fierce and proud. The blue-eyed one watches the other out of the corner of her eye, as if waiting for something. ¡°Hey, Sarya.¡± ¡°Yes Miss?¡± ¡°Can we spar for a bit? I wanna release some energy.¡± ¡°Ehh? But Miss..¡± ¡°Come on, let¡¯s spar. No need to use weapons, just hand-to-hand is fine.¡± ¡°Ah.. I see.. If it¡¯s no weapons it should be fine..¡± The two of them walk about twenty paces away from each other, and take up similar fighting stances. With the left foot in front, knee slightly bent, and right foot turned to the side. Waist facing the opponent, and fists at their sides. The blue-eyed miss shifts her weight on to her left foot, shooting forward to the other. The black-eyed woman lowers her center body, preparing to leap to the side. Suddenly the blue-eyed miss smiles.. She turns into shadowy fog. Suddenly seven different figures of her are closing in on the black-eyed woman from all sides. ¡°Ah! Miss!¡± But her realization was too late. The miss did not intend for this to be a spar. She intended to subdue her. The woman was hit in the back of the head multiple times, causing her to lose consciousness. ¡°Haha, thats what she gets for underestimating me. Mission success.¡± She immediately begins running in a different direction than the one they were headed in earlier. She had told her father that she was headed towards an Adventurer¡¯s Outpost to the south-west of Falirwe that was near the Death Valley desert, but in secret she planned to go somewhere entirely different. She was now headed towards the adventurer¡¯s outpost at the border of Pendragonia, which was built near the Forest Labyrinth dungeon in the wilderness between Falirwe and Pendragonia. ¡­. The miss arrives at the entrance to the adventurer¡¯s outpost. It¡¯s currently raining heavily, and the ground has turned muddy. (Shit.. What bad timing, but this will definitely hide my tracks even better. Thank you rain!) She runs into the town, headed for one of the inns. By now, she has pulled her hood over her head. She cast a shadow illusion magic to change the size and shape of her body. Even her voice has changed. She now appears to be a black hide leathered man, who stands about six feet tall. Her voice is similar to a human males. (Quite a good illusion, if I say so myself.) She approaches the counter of the inn she entered, and a man who appears to be in his fifties and of the human race greets her. ¡°Good evening, how can I help you?¡± ¡°I need a room if you could.¡± ¡°You¡¯re in luck, we have one room left from all the people trying to get out of the storm. That¡¯ll be fifty silver for a day, or three gold for a week.¡± He(she) reaches for a pouch at his(her) side and fishes out some coins. She places three gold in the man¡¯s hands, and he hands her a sheet. ¡°Alright, please sign your name on this sheet and I¡¯ll get you a key.¡± (Ah, crap. I need a nickname..) He(she) thinks for a few minutes¡­ then she writes down the name Zoro. (Hehe, the legendary masked vigilante Zoro. Perfect.) ¡°Alright, baths close at ten, and breakfast is served at seven. Room number twenty three, on the second floor in the hallway to the left at the top of the stairs. Please enjoy.¡± He(she) nods slightly, taking the key from the man¡¯s hand. Suddenly the door of the inn opens up, a few people look up.. then everyone looks up. Standing in the doorway is a boy close to five feet in height. Twin feline ears are atop his head, and a tail drags behind him. A six foot tall tiger with white fur and pale blue stripes enters behind him. Not a completely abnormal thing, but what the thing that is causing so many stares is¡­ The boy and tiger are absolutely covered in mud, and behind the boy is a large sack made of stitched together hides that is bulging. The sack itself is almost taller than the boy. Not to mention that the boy is wearing ragged clothing covered with cuts and tears all over. He walks up to the counter shyly, aware of why people are staring at him. His hair is rather long, and his bangs are covering up his face, plastered with mud. ¡°Uhm, sir. Could I get a room please? I don¡¯t have money right now, but I will definitely tomorrow. I¡¯ll even pay more than the cost to make it up to you?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ um.. I¡¯m sorry young lad, but I just sold the last room to this man right here.. I apologize..¡± The boy turns towards the cloaked man he just motioned towards, and the boy pauses for a moment.. Then he walks up to the cloaked man.. (What does this guy want.. jeez he¡¯s covered in mud!) ¡°Ah, sir, is it okay if I ask to share the room with you? I know it seems like a pain, but.. this sack is full of monster drops so I can definitely pay you well and I can just sleep on the floor. Please?¡± (Crap.. I guess it can¡¯t be so bad.. as long as he takes a bath that is. Plus it¡¯s like free money..) ¡°Fine. But you have to take a bath first, I don¡¯t want you stinking up the room.¡± ¡°Haha, no problem! Thanks a lot, sir! C¡¯mon Bahina, let¡¯s go to the baths.¡± (Oh well. How bad can it be? Wait.. That means I¡¯m going to have to keep this illusion up all night?!) .... Back in the black-rock palace in the Shadow Forest, Alinar is staring at a small crystal in his hands. (So she headed for the Beast-Plains.. I hope she won''t cause too much trouble. If she thinks she got rid of Sarya however, she''ll be sorely disappointed.)
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V2: C1: A Creepy Roommate V2: Heaven''s Tower C1: A Creepy Roommate The forests between the kingdoms of Falirwe and Pendragonia consist of large green pine trees. Although the trees here are not the largest in comparison to some of the forests in Falirwe, they are still massive. The area is relatively non-aggressive for a wilderness, and is considered as one of the tamest areas. The only reason it hasn¡¯t been claimed as territory is for the fact that the Forest Labyrinth dungeon is right in the middle of it. Dungeons are a unique existence, created from the very world itself. Some say they¡¯re created by gods, others think they¡¯re living creatures themselves. But most can agree that they¡¯re power comes from a very high concentration of mana at the deepest part of the dungeon. The forest labyrinth is a forest maze, with a entrance at its center leading into another labyrinth layer beneath it. It¡¯s common for dungeons to contain many layers, and each one increases in difficulty as they get closer to the high mana concentration. Currently, Nova and Bahina are walking through the upper layer of the forest labyrinth. Around them, the corpses of several dead foxes turn into dust, leaving behind a few pieces of their bodies. In dungeons, the monsters are created out of the energy of the dungeon instead of being naturally born. So when they die, their bodies turn into energy again except for a few parts of their bodies that manage to maintain their physical body because they received too much mana, such as the claws or fangs of these foxes. ¡°Crap, how did we get caught in this labyrinth.. I was just walking south..¡± (Nova) ¡°Hum, it¡¯s because little brother was so lost in thinking about all the places he wanted to visit on the way to Heaven¡¯s Tower. Didn¡¯t you say you wanted to visit dungeons since your uncle and grandfather never let you try any?¡± (Bahina) ¡°I do, but not this one. This one is considered to be the weakest dungeon. It only goes down ten levels and the deepest layer only reaches the iron-rank, theres not even any boss monsters.¡± (Nova) ¡°I think I understand what you mean, everything is dying so easily¡­¡± (Bahina) ¡°True.. but I guess we can just sell the loot they drop for money at the adventurer¡¯s outpost to the south west. It won¡¯t do to fight anything challenging with only wooden swords..¡± (Nova) ¡°Thinking only about your swords, sheesh. Look at what you¡¯re wearing.. My Nova looked so much cuter in those clothes Leilatha bought for you, and yet now they¡¯re nothing but rags.¡± (Bahina) ¡°Eh.. I guess I¡¯ll get new clothes too..¡± (Nova) ¡°.. And a haircut.¡± (Bahina) ¡°Shush. Let¡¯s start collecting these drops, we¡¯ll at least be able to get some cash from them.. But how am I gonna carry everything..¡± (Nova) ¡°You¡¯ll have to go find actual monsters out in the forest little brother, use their hides to make a bag like we did in the other wildernesses.¡± (Bahina) ¡°Right. I recall that there are some bear-type monsters in this forest, their hides should be pretty good.. But first we have to get out of this damn maze.¡± (Nova) ¡­. A couple days later. A storm has started up above the forest, pounding the land below with heavy rain. The trees are pushed about by the gale forces of the wind, as lightning strikes down at them, and water softens the ground into mud. Nova and Bahina are running out of the forest tree line. Nova is carrying a large sack made out of connected bear hides. The sack bulges with items, making it almost as big as he is. Both of them run through the fields of grass separating them from the adventurer¡¯s outpost. That is, until Nova¡¯s foot accidentally lands inside a mole hole causing him to trip. ¡°Ah! Nova!¡± Bahina sees Nova land face first in the mud in front of him. ¡°... Bahahahahaha!¡± Nova pushes himself out of the mud, as it slowly drips from his face. He gives a dangerous stare at Bahina. ¡°Haha, sorry little brother.. can¡¯t.. help.. it.. bahahaha!¡± ¡°Oh yeah? Well let¡¯s see how much you like it!¡± He throws a handful of mud at Bahina¡¯s face. ¡°Ah?! Is this a challenge?! Then I accept!¡± She begins kicking mud with her back paws. As if a volley of arrows released by a squadron of archers is raining down on him, the mud begins landing all around Nova. ¡°Cheating! This is unfair!¡± ¡°Nonsense little brother! This is battle!¡± ¡°Grr..¡± Nova lunges at Bahina, tackling her into the mud. Surprisingly, his smaller frame had the power to actually force a six foot Bahina to the ground. ¡°Gah! Mercy!¡± Nova begins pouring mud from the ground all over her. ¡°Gahahaha! Yes, fear m-¡± *BOOM* A sudden lightning bolt lands in the field nearby. ¡°¡±...¡±¡± ¡°Let¡¯s head to the outpost.¡± ¡°Yep. Sounds good.¡± They begin sprinting even faster than before towards safety. Even if one was a powerful warrior, in the face of nature they were nothing but an insignificant insect. ¡­. The adventurer¡¯s outpost at the borders to the Forest Labyrinth was mostly for new adventurers with low levels, as such it wasn¡¯t as fancy some of the others. For example the one Nova lived at with Leilatha had paved roads, stone buildings, and was fairly well built. However this one was much more humble, with wooden buildings, dirt roads, and was only about a third of the size. However, right now the biggest issue was.. the dirt roads. With the rain, all of the roads had been turned completely muddied. *Ah, geez, the mud here is even worse than the field outside.* (Nova) *Mm, but it¡¯s not as bad as the swamp. There you could barely move your feet if you caught stuck in the mud.* (Bahina) *Don¡¯t even remind me of that nightmare.. To think I spent almost two years there¡­* (Nova) *Look little brother, theres the inn.* (Bahina) *Good, let¡¯s get inside quick.* (Nova) Upon entering the inn, Nova realizes that he¡¯s being stared at. *Ah.. Geez.. Everyone¡¯s staring.. Let¡¯s quickly get a room, we need to wash all this mud off.* ¡°Uhm, sir. Could I get a room please? I don¡¯t have money right now, but I will definitely tomorrow. I¡¯ll even pay more than the cost to make it up to you?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ um.. I¡¯m sorry young lad, but I just sold the last room to this man right here.. I apologize..¡± *Damn.. maybe this guy will let us shar.. This guy looks creepy as hell. I can¡¯t even see his face that clearly with the hood, and he¡¯s wearing nothing but black leather.. What do you think Bahina..?* *I don¡¯t want to sleep in the rain, just ask him. He¡¯s probably just a rogue or something who got back from the dungeon.* *Right.. Maybe I¡¯m being overly suspicious.* ¡°Ah, sir, is it okay if I ask to share the room with you? I know it seems like a pain, but.. this sack is full of monster drops so I can definitely pay you well and I can just sleep on the floor. Please?¡± ¡°Fine. But you have to take a bath first, I don¡¯t want you stinking up the room.¡± ¡°Haha, no problem! Thanks a lot, sir! C¡¯mon Bahina, let¡¯s go to the baths.¡± Nova quickly runs to the baths followed by Bahina. ¡­. In the back of the first floor of the inn is the large public bath, which takes up a large area. (Think japanese style indoor public bathhouse.) Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. As adventurers with monster companions are common, there is even an area to wash them as well. However, there is still separation between the men and women baths. Never want to give people the temptation at committing a crime, so it¡¯s better to keep things orderly. In the mens side of the bath, Nova is pouring water from a bucket over Bahina and scrubbing out all of the mud in her fur with a towel. ¡°Guu¡­ To have Nova scrub me so thoroughly.. I¡¯m getting excited..haah¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. Keep it to yourself you lewd beast.¡± ¡°Hnn.. I want to wash Nova too, come here little brother..¡± Bahina sneak attacks Nova with her tongue, licking him clean.. Well, clean with her saliva. ¡°Gah! Quit it! You¡¯re going to make me smell bad!¡± He pops her in the head with the towel. ¡°Denied again.. Curse these baths, taking away my right to bath Nova in my smell.¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather not smell like raw meat and blood while in town, thank you very much. All the mud is out of your fur now, let¡¯s get in the bath.¡± They then enter the large pool of heated water. By using mana crystals to power a basic heating spell, the baths can be kept hot during the peaks hours for bathing. This is something an inn can afford to do, since buying the mana crystals is easy for them. But for families who live in homes, it would cost too much to try doing the same for their baths. As such, families who worked in the adventurer¡¯s outpost would often visit the inn to bath. Such as right now, there were several adult men of various races, some with their sons and some by themselves. Nova dipped his head in the water, soaking himself in it, then bursts back out of the surface. His long hair is flung back over his shoulders, and because of his elven blood, his face has an elvish look to it. Combined with his long hair however, this elvish look makes him look feminine. A man a few feet away bathing with his son just saw Nova come back out of the water and fling his hair behind his back, however he slightly blushes at the confusion of Nova¡¯s looks. ¡°Uhm.. Excuse me miss¡­ This is the men¡¯s bath, I think you might have entered the wrong one..¡± Nova looks over at the man.. first he has a confused look.. then he slowly realizes what the man has just said. ¡°I¡¯m a boy dammit! A boy!¡± He stands up out of the bath and points at his male identity, his face is red with embarrassment. ¡°Oh, ahahaha, my mistake lad. You just have quite the pretty face and long hair, I got confused.¡± Other men in the bath also laugh, causing Nova¡¯s face to get even redder. *Bahina! I¡¯m definitely getting that haircut.* *Hehe, but I think this Nova is cute too.. Maybe little brother could be a little sister..* *WHACK* Nova bops Bahina on the head with a fist, *Who the hell are you calling a little sister?!* ¡­. Nova goes upstairs in the inn, and finds the room he knows the man from earlier to be staying in. Earlier he had put his stuff in the room and while he knew this to be risky, he knew the man wouldn¡¯t try running anywhere with his stuff while it was storming outside. Plus the adventurer¡¯s hall was closed, so he couldn¡¯t even sell it anywhere before Nova found out he took it. Nova is wearing a robe he borrowed from the innkeeper, something to replace his muddied ragged clothes he came with until he got new ones. Upon entering the room, he spots the man lying the bed, seemingly asleep. *Guess he was tired.. Oh well. I¡¯ll go sell the stuff in the morning, and pay him. Let¡¯s get up early tomorrow.* *Nnn, I¡¯m quite tired as well.. Never got to have a good sleep with my Nova in a while, come herreee little brotherrr..* Bahina pulls Nova to her with a paw as she begins to lay down on the floor. *Geez, you¡¯re lucky your fur is so comfortable..* *Fufu, don¡¯t try to hide the fact that you enjoy being cuddled, are souls are connected little brother..* *Shush..* Laying against the furry body of his older sister, Nova and Bahina fall into a light sleep of which they became accustomed to from living in the wilderness for so long. ¡­. The next morning, the sky has cleared up. The rays of the sun shine down on the adventurer¡¯s outpost, slowly drying the muddied ground. The light peeks in through the window of room twenty three, landing on a cloaked figure sleeping under the blankets of the bed. Slowly, the figure rises out of the bed, and stretches while yawning. (Fuu.. To think that the alcohol would be so strong.. Maybe my tolerance is too low..) Currently her illusion is no longer active, and her smooth black hair rolls down her shoulders as her hood falls back. Her mist blue eyes scan the room, taking in her surroundings. (Ah! Where¡¯s that guy? Did he run away?! Looks like it.. Tsk, if I ever see him again I¡¯ll teach him some lessons on justice.) She shifts her legs out of the bed, touching her feet to the floor. Standing up, she stretches again, loosening up her limbs. (Ahhh, that feels nice. I guess I can change out of this leather and wash my skin with a rag and water. Wouldn¡¯t want to give away my identity by going to the baths.) She begins stripping herself of the hide leather armor, cloak, and everything else revealing the figure trapped beneath. Her smooth, dark-gray skin reflects the light coming through the window. Her black hair rolls down her back and shoulder, resting itself upon her breasts. They¡¯re humble in size, but not too small. Her figure has nice curves, with a small waist but a good sized butt. Her legs are smooth, and give off a womanly allure that would guide a man¡¯s eyes to the treasure hidden between them. Although she is nearly twenty years old, she only looks to be about fourteen compared to human standards. Elves develop slower, but once they reach their peak they¡¯ll stay there for a very long time. As she begins taking a washrag, drowning it in water from the faucet sink in the room, which is created by using a water spout spell and powered by a mana crystal, she wipes the grim built up on her skin. Right at this moment, the door to the room opens, and she freezes in shock. ¡°Sir! I¡¯m back from the adventurer¡¯s hall and running a few errands. I can pa-¡± She stares in shock at Nova, who has just entered the room. His hair has been cut short, to a shaggy-medium length, with his bangs brushed to the side. The stripes of black hair have been straightened out, and his the deep red hair, black stripe pattern can be seen. His golden irises, are staring straight at her, as if they¡¯re afraid to move. His clothes have changed to simple black cloth shirt and shorts, but still no shoes. His mouth is hanging open from having been frozen mid-sentence, and his cheeks are slowly turning bright red. ¡°DIE PERVERT!¡± She grabs her knife and throws it at him. ¡°SORRY!!!¡± He runs out of the room, slamming the door shut right as the knife lands in the door.
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