“Hey kid, wake up. If you don’t wake up I am going to shoot my sap all over you.”
Who’s talking? Sap? Just let me rest, my body is so tired.
“Guess you going to get sapped then.”
“Wait, I’m awake!!”
I get up from the ground and look around, but I’m in an unfamiliar place. The entire space around me was golden and there was an old man sitting in front of me. I say an old man but he looks more like a tree with facial features. His hair and beard were made from leaves and his wooden body was covered by a green robe.
“Where am I?”
“Inside of me.”
“Am I dead? Did you eat me?”
“Hahaha, you’re a funny kid. I didn’t eat you, you’re just inside of me.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Hmm, let’s say you’re under my protection.”
“How did I get here?”
“You ran towards me, didn’t you?”
The last thing I remember was that I was lying on the trunk of the big tree. I lied there as I watch the zombies and the little ghost girl pound against empty air. For some reason, they couldn’t come any closer.
I would have died if it wasn’t for whatever was holding them back. My body was tired and I exhausted all of my mana trying to keep the zombies away. Either that little girl or those other zombies who could use magic would have been eating me right now.
I have to thank this old tree man in front of me. From his looks and from what Fifi had told me this must have been what she meant when she told me that this big tree was special. I was initially confused when she told me that this tree was special because for the many years its been here, there haven’t been any rumors around it. Now, I understand why she said that this tree was special, it was a being like Fifi.
“Thank you, Mr.Big Tree.”
“Haha, your welcome. So you humans have forgotten my name after all.”
“Sorry, everyone just calls you Big Tree because you’re a big tree. My name’s Jude Craven by the way.”
“Yeah, I already know your name. Your little fairy told me all about you.”
“Fifi did? When did she talk to you?”
“So that fairy hasn’t told you anything at all?”
“No.”
“Are you interested in knowing what she’s hiding from you?”
If Fifi’s hiding something and hasn’t told me then I don’t want to hear it from another person. I would rather have Fifi tell me herself when she wants to. She didn’t force me to tell her my past so I won’t pry into her affairs until she wants me to.
“Not really. If she’s hiding something then she must have a reason for hiding it.”
“Heh, you trust her that much. I wouldn’t trust her if I was you.”
Why is this old man doubting Fifi so much? She’s done nothing but help me this entire time we’ve been together.
“I trust Fifi more than I trust you.”
“Ahaha, that’s true. Who would trust a strange old man more than their companion? Well, that is fine. Sit down and let us talk.”
A chair made out of wood suddenly appears in front of me. I sit on the chair but I’m still wary of this entire situation. I’m grateful that this old tree man saved me but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a good person. I prepare to fight at a moment’s notice since its better to be safe than sorry.
“Do you have any questions? I’ll answer it to the best of my ability.”
There wasn’t any change in his facial expressions but his voice didn’t seem to have any malicious intent behind it. Since he was going to answer my questions then I have a lot to ask like who he is, where am I, why did he bring me here, but there’s one question I urgently need an answer to.
“Do you know if Fifi and the others are ok?”
“Hmm, is that really your first question? You could have asked me anything you know. You could have even asked me to give you my treasures or even asked where you are.”
“Yes, I only need to know if my friends are ok.”
“Ahaha, ok. I guess every hero is unique in their own way. I’m sorry but I can’t answer your question.”
“Is it because you can’t answer it or you just won’t tell me.”
“I can’t answer it because I don’t know if they’re fine or not. The range of my power isn’t as strong as it was in the past. Back in my day, I had complete control over this entire region but my power has diminished. I can only emit my presence a few meters around my body now.”
I see that’s what must have been protecting me. This old tree man must have been protecting me with an invisible barrier of some sort.
“Thank you for protecting me but can you let me out of here. I want to confirm if they are safe or not.”
“I can’t do that either.”
“Why?”
Is this old man also after my hero’s blood? Fifi warned me that other beings out there relish on consuming the blood of heroes. I may have been correct to prepare to fight at any moment. My mana circulates my body and I prepare to use magic against this old tree man.
“Calm down, kid. I’m not going to eat you or anything. Besides, you won’t be able to even injure me at your current strength.”
A sudden pressure overwhelms my entire body. The mana that was being prepared was suddenly stuck and even my blood feels like it's been frozen in place. This overwhelming pressure is the strongest I’ve ever faced in my life. Those monsters I faced up until now can’t even compare to this old tree man. It’s like comparing a baby to a dragon.
“Even at this old age, I was once revered as a deity. You can’t defeat me with your current strength.”
Even breathing and talking was a hard task to do at the moment. I was at the whims of this old man. Either he lets me live or he kills me.
I can’t die yet!
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“...I...can’t...die...please.”
“Oh, what a surprise!? You were able to speak even under my control. I guess that’s the power of someone who has hero blood coursing through their body.”
The pressure suddenly disappears and I was able to breathe again. My entire body was drenched in cold sweat. This is the closest I’ve been to death other than when I was struck by lightning. I was completely powerless.
Even when I was facing that prison monster or the green goo zombie, there was always a chance I would die but there was always a slim chance of surviving. I wouldn’t have been able to resist this old tree man no matter the circumstances. Even if Fifi was here, we would have both died. My life was in his hands.
“I-is there any way I can convince you to release me?”
“Now, now, there’s no need to rush. Why don’t you keep this old man company? I’ve been asleep for so many years so why don’t we just talk?”
I-I think I’m safe for now. The atmosphere and tone of his voice were now friendly but I know he could kill me if he wanted too. Even though I really want to find out if Fifi, Lisa, or Mako are safe, the only option for me is to comply with his requests. Maybe he’ll let me go if I just keep him company.
“Ok, then let me start first. Who are you and how long have you been asleep?”
“My name’s Tigurka and I think I’ve been asleep for 1,000 years or so. I guess I’ll be 10,000 years old right.”
“10,000!? You’re that old!?”
“Hahaha, are you surprised. Most humans I’ve talked to always react that way when I tell them my age. In your eyes, I may be old but in others, I might still be a baby.”
Who wouldn’t think that this old man is old!? 10,000 years old is way longer than any human lifespan. Even Fifi is only a thousand years old? Wait, how old is Fifi?
“Ok, now that you’ve asked me a question then let me ask you mine. Can you tell me about your human society? Everything has drastically changed in the 1,000 years I’ve been asleep. The towns and populations have grown and changed so much. You guys aren’t even hunting fishes with spears anymore.”
I guess no matter what species you are, you’ll always be interested in the changes after 1,000 years. Tigurka was acting the same way Fifi was when she first saw all the new things around her. Since he wanted to learn about the new things I begin to explain to him like how I explained to Fifi.
I talk about the city, the people, history, and even about the world. He was genuinely interested in everything I was talking about. Even though he was an old man, he was excited like a little boy who is learning that giant dinosaurs used to live on this planet. For some reason, he didn’t seem as scary as I thought he was.
“What!? You’re saying that giant beasts called dinosaurs used to live on this planet. Whew, I’m glad I was born during the time I was born in. There were monsters and beasts in my time, but those the size of a dinosaur was relatively rare. I would have been made into a snack by those dinosaurs. No matter the age, you humans are always so impressive. To be able to discover dinosaurs millions of years old and even breaking the world’s barrier to reach the moon. Back in my day, the humans around here were just learning how to grow vegetables. Even back then I thought it was an impressive feat for the humans who used to always just hunt and gather for food. I don’t know about other places but I know my humans weren’t that smart. Rather, they excelled in physical strength and their quick reflexes. They weren’t smart like humans today but I still treasure them. I guess a thousand years have passed, huh? No one even remembers me anymore.”
Even though his wooden face didn’t show many expressions I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was sad. I can understand his feelings, losing everyone who loves and cares for you is a very lonely feeling.
“Tigurka, I don’t know if this will cheer you up but I’ll come back and show you pictures of various places around the world. I’ll show you places like the Auffel Tower or even a place called the Great Wall of Bihina. All these places were created by human hands.”
“Hahaha, it’s fine. You’re a nice kid, aren’t you? You even have the time to keep an old man company even though you want to leave. I guess I can’t keep you here forever so I’ll tell you the condition to leave this place.”
“Thank you, Tigurka. I promise I’ll come back with those pictures.”
It’s only been a few hours since I’ve known Tigurka but I feel like we’ve learned a lot about each other. He isn’t a friend and he isn’t a relative, but I think I’ll feel sad if he dies. The time we’ve spent together was short but it has been fun.
“Let me tell you the condition for you to leave this place. It’s very simple, just destroy this boulder right here.
A gigantic boulder suddenly appears in the middle of the sky in this golden room. It was a dull yellow color that paled in comparison to the shining golden room. The boulder was perfectly spherical in shape, not a single crack or crevice on it.
“I don’t think I can break it.”
“Come on, you can’t be giving up before you even try, kid. The conditions are simple, just break it with wind and earth magic.”
Only wind and earth magic? These conditions seemed oddly specific. It was the two elements I’ve never put training into. Ever since I learned magic, the only two elements I’ve been using was fire and water because these are the two I’ve been using during training. If I can just get stronger with these two elements then I don’t really have a need for the others.
It’s like this condition was made specifically to put me at a disadvantage. The only person who would know that I’m weak with wind and earth magic is Fifi. Is Fifi trying to have me learn how to control other elements besides fire and water? Why couldn’t she just tell me to train in them instead of having Tigurka teach me?
“Ok, I’ll give it a shot.”
Tigurka sits back down on his chair and sips some tea that appeared out of nowhere. I stand up and walk towards the boulder. Standing in front of it makes me realize how big this boulder was. It was about 10 meters tall and wide, a massive giant compared to me.
I really don’t think I’ll be even able to create a dent in this boulder. I know how to use wind and earth magic but it’s vastly weaker than when I using fire and water magic. Well, here goes nothing.
“Big Fast Hammer.”
A large hammer made out of earth is propelled forwards by wind magic and attacks the boulder. It makes contact but my magic does no damage at all. The hammer was easily shattered.
It didn’t work but the most interesting thing was that it didn’t consume any mana at all. Well, more like my mana recovered at an astonishing rate that it didn’t matter how much I use. I could probably continuously use magic without passing out.
“I-is that it?”
Looking over at Tigurka, his hand holding the teacup was somewhat shaking and his leafy furrowed eyebrows were raised in shock. Was I doing something wrong?
“Not yet. Falling Boulder.”
I create another boulder and drop it from the sky. I increase its descent with wind magic and swiftly crashes into the yellow boulder. It doesn’t work and my boulder shatters. If magic with a wide area of attack doesn’t work then I should concentrate its attack on a single point.
“Spear of the Shattering Boulder.”
A large spear made of earth flies in with increased speed from my wind magic towards the boulder. The results were the same and my magic disintegrates, but it was able to shake the boulder at least. If one spear doesn’t work then I’ll just create multiple.
“Spear of the Shattering Boulder x5”
Like the previous attack, spears made of earth, backed up by wind magic, flies towards the boulder. In a single-file line, the spears attack the boulder. The boulder shakes and dust rises up but it doesn’t do any damage at all. Not even a single dent was made on the boulder.
Maybe I was thinking of this wrong. What if I create five Spear of the Shattering Boulder and attack from all different sides.
“Spear…”
“STOP! STOP! STOP!”
Tigurka suddenly appears behind me and grabs my right arm which was raised. My magic was canceled out and he easily stopped it from going out of control. Fifi told me that interrupting a magician while they’re chanting will cause their magic to go out of control and explode. I was somewhat worried but Tigurka easily stopped it.
“That was dangerous, Tigurka. I was in the middle of casting my magic.”
“Hahaha, you think your weak magic can hurt me. Besides, you were just about to use Spear of the Shattering Boulder again, weren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you really think it was going to work?”
“I don’t know but I was going to attack the boulder from different sides this time.”
“Haaaaah, sit down.”
He lets go of my arm and forces me to sit down on the ground. His arms were crossed and it looks like he was seriously thinking about something.
“Tell me what you know about magic.”
“Fifi taught me that magic is the act of using your mana to manipulate the various elements in the world. There are six main elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light, and Dark. To use magic you have to use your imagination. The stronger the magic, the more likely you need chants. This is all that she taught me.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
From the minute changes on his wooden face, I can tell that he was shocked at the little amount of knowledge I have on magic. I knew that Fifi was a bad teacher but was it that bad to make Tigurka hold his head in shock. I guess there were a lot of things about magic that Fifi hasn’t taught me about.
“Your fairy’s explanation of magic isn’t technically wrong but it leaves out the very important intricacies of magic. Magic isn’t as simple as she makes it out to be. What a pain in the neck your fairy is, I guess I’ll just have to teach you about magic from the beginning. Otherwise, you’ll never be able to destroy that boulder.”