A beautiful scenery can be seen from the dark forest as the moonlight shines upon the trees. But contrary to its beauty strange mythical beasts often roam around the forest making it one of the most dangerous places in the world, especially at night. That’s why many people wouldn’t even think of going to this location as they would only be seeking their deaths.

*Rustle*

A silhouette suddenly emerges from the darkness, and there appears a figure of a woman in a robe, carrying a bundle of cloth in her arms as she rushes out of the forest.

*ROAR*

A loud growl of beasts rang throughout the forest.

Five unknown shadows tails the woman as she runs outside the forest.

[General we’ve found the target.]

A figure, separate from the previous five spoke while kneeling down on the shadows. There was only darkness that covers the trees but a silhouette can somehow be traced in the dark.

[Mmmm.. just follow her then we will retrieve the item.]

A voice, deep and coarse spoke in the shadows. The man in the shadows looked at the bright moonlight covering the forest. Again, the kneeling shadow spoke.

[What shall we do about the woman?]

[Capture her alive, the emperor still has some use for her.]

[Yes.]

The kneeling shadow retreated to join the others to relay their given orders.

[Huff… huff]

The woman reached the end of the forest and sees a small cave.

She then proceeds to go inside the cave to rest and relieves herself from exhaustion.

But just as the woman sits to take a rest.

[Uwaa]

The sudden cry startled the her.

A baby with a stone necklace on his neck and was wrapped around a cloth can be seen in the woman’s arms. The cry echoed inside the caved.

[Shhh shhh… Don’t worry it’s going to be okay.]

Caressing it’s head, the woman tries to calm the baby down. Embracing him on her arm as to not let the pursuers notice them.

But just as the woman thought that they’re safe, she heard a cold looming voice behind her.

[So you’re here!]

Her face turned pale. She quickly covered her child with the blanket as she turns her back to face the unknown voice.

Then she sees the somewhat familiar man and six shadows standing behind him. She quickly turned pale upon this sight, as if her soul left her body, her heart tightened.

It was the general of the shadow unit of the empire and beside him are six of his shadow aides.

The empire’s most loyal dog that was recognize by their mastery in espionage and assassination.

[You already know as to why we are here so I won’t beat around the bush anymore. Where is the stone?]

Even though he spoke softly, in the eyes of the woman, it seemed as if the thunder bellowed furiously at her.

The man permeates a cold dark aura around him that makes the woman sweat in fear. But the woman soon resisted the aura and replied.

[Heh. If you’re thinking that I would tell you where it is, then you’re dreaming!]

The woman snorted at his remarks and replies with a hint of mockery in her words. This angers the man but the man tried to keep his calm.

Tak tak…

His feet moved, slowly coming closer to the woman until he was only a few steps away from her.

[I’ll give you one last chance to tell me where the stone is and I will let you and your baby live, but if you don’t tell me where it is, death is the only thing that awaits you!!]

The man yelled and released a cold energy to threaten the woman.

[Do you really think I would believe your bullshit? I’d rather die than tell it to you]

Although she is ready to die by the hands of such a cruel man, that cannot be the same for the life of her child. She looked at the cold blue eyes of the man with hatred and disgust in her heart.

But there was nothing she could do. She was out of strength and will not be able to fight them head on. There was only one thing she could do in her current situation.

She looked down to her arms and quickly unfurled the cloth hiding the baby’s face.

[Y…You]

The man snapped at the words spoken by the woman.

But just as they finished to speak blinding flashes of blue lights began to radiate from the woman’s arms. And there, the stone necklace revealed itself.

With widened eyes, the man eyed the baby in the woman’s arms. All along the object that they have been searching for was just in the woman’s arms.

The thought of getting fooled by such a woman made his blood boil. But such thoughts are unnecessary in the current moment.

The light coming from the stone is akin to that of the sun, blinding and unbearable. This causes the man and the shadows to be rendered of their movements.

The General is shock by the sudden burst of light but he soon recovered from it.

He then sees the item on the baby’s neck and shouted to the shadows.

[QUICK!! Get the stone necklace on the baby’s neck.]

But... It’s already too late.

[It’s done]

The woman muttered to herself.

Magic circles formed around her and her child making a magic array. Such beautiful lights that surrounded them.

Tears began to flow from her eyes. Having gone through so much, there’s nothing that she wants right now but for her child to live. Her memories passed in her mind. Her husband, father, friends, and family, such joyous moments that she can only relive through her memories.

The thought of not being by her child and accompanying him in his life brought a great amount of pain inside her heart. She looked at her child for one last time. Having such sorrowful expression as she was about to part with her child.

[Grow well my child.]

The woman embraced her child for one last time before her farewell.

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Just as the shadows are about to grab the stone necklace. The baby disappeared and a stream of white light shot atop of the cave.

The shadows are confused to what just happened.

The baby is gone and so the stone necklace, all that’s left is a cold body of a woman lying on the ground lifeless. The general is also confused about what just happened then…

[God damn it!… SEARCH FOR THE BABY AND THE STONE!!]

The man shouts in anger ordering the shadows to find the stone and the baby. The man gets furious on how the things ended, the woman is dead and the baby is gone along with the stone necklace.

[How am I suppose to explain this to the emperor…. Tsk.]

The stone necklace radiates faint glows of light as it envelopes the baby with a circle of light to protect him as he is traveling across a vast and endless void.

From there you would be able to see the seemingly infinite fabric of time and space. A fine line of strings with different colors can also be seen. Some are thick and some are thin, some are long and some are short. The strings also have different colors and movements. And all of them seemed to dance together forming a spectacle that no one could see.

Though absurd as it may sound there are more much mysterious things and unexplainable phenomenon’s throughout the whole Cosmos.

The Ursula Mountain Range. A huge formation of mountains near the Ranella Kingdom. One of the most dangerous lands in the continent of Arcania. Being home of thousands of beasts, this land is marked as one of the not to go list if you’re a traveler.

Cracklings of dead leaves sounded as an old man with a little boy in tow wandered at the foot of the mountain. Although the mountain is dangerous, that is only if you’re aim is to go to one of it’s peak. Roaming around the foot of the mountains poses no danger because demon beast rarely go down. But while it’s rare, there are still some instances where other people encounters one.

[Rei don’t wander around too much. You might get lost.]

The old man, Gen, warns his grandchild for the mountains have a tied threat to it.

[Ok Granpa.]

Being too careful might be too much, but considering that they might encounter a demon beast at any given moment, it is much better than being dead. Especially since it is dusk and nearing night time and the chances of encountering one is high.

[Remember, we’re not here to play, we’re finding medical herbs.]

(But why search when it’s closing to night time when there is much greater danger? You may ask.

It is because of the nature and characteristics of the herb we are looking for. Salis Eran, a type of mushroom that is bioluminescent and mostly found in places where mana is abundant. This herb can be used in making recovery potions, magic elixirs, and concocting pills. Although it is but a common herb, it has variety of uses and application.

But such a common herb is also hard to find. Not that it’s rare to find them, but rather it’s the location of where this herb grows.

Firstly, there must be an abundant amount of mana in the surroundings for it to grow. And it only thrives at humid places.

This herb fetches a lot of money so selling this to merchants can put a lot of food in the table.)

Albeit true that it is foggy at the foot of the mountain. It all disappears at the nights where full moon is clear at the night sky. No one knows why and how it happens, but it makes it convenient for them to search for the herb since searching it with the fog makes it a lot harder. Aside from hindering their vision the chance of getting an infection on wounds are high since bacteria develops much faster in humid places.

[Ugh… I wish I could play along with Hailey and the other’s, and not picking up herbs.]

Slumping his face, Rei grumpily complains about the battering of his grandfather. Though he has gotten used to it. He still gets annoyed when his grandfather scolds him.

[You search through this side and I’ll search ahead.]

Gen pointed to the trees where there are a lot of bushes. Rei got to the bushes and quickly put on his gloves. Even though the gloves is just made from thick old cloth and not leather, it’s still prevent him from getting wounds and scratches on his hands. He swept and rummaged through the bushes trying to find one.

He opened the first one only to find bugs and worms wiggling and crawling. Then the second, still bugs. Then the third, still bugs…

And on the fifth bush he saw a faint greenish glow. He quickly opened the bush, and inside he saw a small lump of mushrooms resting on the ground. He got the almost broken iron trowel from his bag, then carefully dug the mushrooms out of the ground.

The strange thing about this mushroom is that it posses roots just like a normal plant, contrary to a mushroom that is a fungi. The roots of Selis Eran absorbs mana that seeps unto the ground. It can also absorb mana inside other plants that’s why it is also considered a parasitic herb, but the cases of that happening is rare.

After Rei dug up all the mushrooms. He proceeded to continue to his search when his eyes suddenly caught sight of a firefly. Fascinated, he quickly followed the firefly not knowing that he strayed far off from the side of his grandfather.

After following the firefly for a while, he quickly remembered his grandfather. But it was already too late as he was lost and does not know the way back.

Now he was lost in the foot of the mountain with nothing but tress and bushes around him. Alone in the middle of the night inside such a scary place. Then, he suddenly heard a howl, further adding fear and distraught in his situation.

[Hic… Grandpa.]

He voiced out words filled with regret. Panic and anxiety swept his heart. He wanted to scream so his grandfather could find him but he suddenly remembered that creating noise could attract demon beasts. So he chose to shut tight his mouth not uttering a single word. But suddenly, a blinding flash of light appeared in front of him. He instinctively shut his eyes and covered his face with his arms.

[AHHHH!!]

Gen was searching for the herb in the bushes oblivious to the fact that his grandchild, Rei, is far from his side and was lost on the woods right now.

With the trowel in hand, he carefully dug up the mushrooms he found. He was feeling a little gleeful on the amount of mushrooms that he collected. That’s when he suddenly heard a scream of a child far off from his location. He turned around but his grandchild was nowhere to be seen.

His face paled. He hastily discarded the trowel and mushroom in hand, then removed the bag from his shoulders. Fearing for the life of Rei, he ran as fast as he could.

[REI!!!]

He screamed in hope that Rei will hear him, disregarding the fact that demon beasts might hear him.

He ran with every ounce of his strength. Following where the scream came from.

Rei was the only family he had left and he surely doesn’t want to lose the only person by his side. Rei’s father died to a demon beast while working as a mercenary and her mother also died because of her deteriorating health a year ago. Losing two people is already devastating enough for him. He doesn’t want to lose yet another one of his kin.

Finally, he found Rei staggering back, fell on the ground with a thud, shivering in fear. But what Gen saw was different from what he expected. There was no beast in front of Rei but rather something wrapped in a cloth. And something glowed dimly in the cloth.

He embraced Rei in his arms, comforting the child.

[Wahhhhh grandpa]

Tears fell down as he finally saw his grandfather. But their small reunion was cut short.

[Uwaa]

A cry, although a quiet one, quickly caught their attention. Gen got up and told Rei to stay still. He slowly approached the small cloth just to see something unexpected.

A baby, with puffy cheeks that looks like a lump of meat. Small yet lumpy arms. Although thin, this baby had a full blown light orange hair. His eyes tightly shut.

He snuggled and moved around the cloth. Gen saw a stone necklace around the baby’s neck, as the dim light it emitted slowly died out. He stretched his arm to grab the necklace but his finger was suddenly caught by the baby’s hand. The baby was swishing the finger he caught around the air seemingly treating it as a toy, smiling with such bright face.

Seeing this Gen felt something within him. The warm hand of the baby wrap around his fingers. The bright smile of his while playing with it. He felt something blossom within his heart.

[What is it grandpa?]

Rei curiously asked

Then the old man picked up the baby to show it to Rei.

[Huh? it’s a baby!!.. Woow!!]

Rei was fascinated by such a cute baby.

[Can we take it in the house?]

Charmed by the baby, he asked his grandfather. Although Rei isn’t really that lonely because he can play with the other kids in their village. He still felt quite envious of others who has brothers and sisters.

[Uhh… I also want to take him but his family might still be around.]

It is true that Gen wants to, but his conscience won’t be able to take it if he was to separate a child to it’s family. He glanced at the baby sleeping, embracing it within his arms, reluctant to let it go.

[How about this, we’ll come back here tomorrow to search for his family, then if we can’t find his family we will take care of him okay?]

Rei nodded to his grandfathers suggestion. Gen heave a sigh of relief.

[We’ll go home for now.]

Having been in the foot of the mountains for a few hours. Gen deemed that it will be more dangerous to stay there longer.

They arrived at the village.

Their house is but a small shack. But it’s still enough to house at least five people. It got a kitchen, one room with two beds, and a dining area. The beds were just made of straw mats piled up together. There were no furniture besides the wooden table and chairs in the dining area.

At home, Gen quickly looked for the bed Rei previously used when he was newborn. It was a small leather bead filled with stuffing inside. Although it’s dusty, it’s still in a fine shape. He quickly grabbed a dry and wet cloth.

A few moments later. The bed was finely cleaned and was ready to be used. Gen took the baby from Rei’s hand and placed it inside the bed. He stared for a quite a while before going in the kitchen.

The old man told rei to help him prepare the food so they can eat. After finishing their dinner, Gen got near Rei.

[You’ll need to sleep early so we can go search for his family at dawn alright?]

Rei nodded while Gen pats his head. Rei headed to bed first while Gen stayed for a bit to clean the table. After finishing to clean the table Gen sat beside the baby.

He pondered on how such a small child ended up on the foot of the mountains.

[Poor child just where are your parents?]

*Sigh*…

Looking at the pitiful child in the bed, Gen let out a huge sigh. He can’t find a reason on why such a young and adorable baby would be lost in the woods. Who would leave him there? Why would someone abandon him at such a dangerous place? These questions floated around Gen’s mind.

[Don’t worry from now on we will take care of you]

He caressed the baby’s cheek.

The old man looks at the sleeping baby then he notices a necklace hanging in the child’s neck. He thought that the necklace may be a clue to find the child’s parents. He proceeds to grab the necklace, but when he touched it something yet unexpected happened.

A faint blue light radiated from the stone and the old man slammed on the floor losing his consciousness.