The large white bird, Angela, flew towards them from who knew where. With a mighty flap of her wings, she perched on the tree branch of which they sat, barely making a sound.

"Hey Angela," said Tenma. The bird screeched in response. She brought her head low towards him as he went to her, caressing her head.

"What kind of name is that?" Tai couldn't help but ask. As far as he knew, names always began with the letter 'T'.

"It's a human name. Anyways, I'll be back kid," Tenma said as he mounted Angela, "Don't touch anything".

Tai nodded, his expression as pure as a lamb. The muscular thumbling gently knocked his heel on the side of the bird, and it flew off.

Tai watched them fly into the distance till he could see them no more. After that, he got up, turned around, and made a beeline towards Tenma's worktable in the room Tenma led him into on the first day and what he called the 'living room'. If he was going to live here, Tenma couldn't possibly believe he would not to scope out the area and 'inspect' a thing or two.

He took up a funny-looking glass bottle, and a pang of guilt assaulted his conscience. Tai took a deep breath and peered outside. Tenma was not there. He resumed his antics, observing the swirling purple liquid inside the sealed bottle with wonder.

Glowing threads of lilac swirled in the deep purple liquid. Occasionally, blue hues peppered the liquid, producing mini clouds of colour.

However, an ominous vibe emanated from the mixture. Tai, in a cautious manner, placed it where he took it up from and went on to explore the rooms in the house.

Tai strolled in the bland, red corridor, looking in every room he came across. He explored every single one, amazed at how many useless rooms Tenma had. One of the rooms in particular had mirrors lined along every surface.

When he entered the room, in each glass was a scrawny, patched-up boy with a messy head of shoulder length hair and vibrant green eyes looking back at him.

Though he had green hair and eyes, he never felt like the odd one out. Now that he was abandoned, he had to wonder...did it have something to do with his deviant appearance? Tai sighed.

Aside from all that, to Tai's absolute horror, he was clean. How was he not dirty? Tenma immediately popped into mind, and Tai grimaced uncontrollably. He had to ask him about it when he came back. Tai backed out of the room, casting one last unsure look at himself.

Tai roamed the other rooms, totaling 50 in all. Some were filled with ropes hanging from the ceiling, some with spikes on every surface. Every way you could make a room be weird, Tenma did it.

After two hours, Tai reached the end of the winding corridor. He opened the 51st door he found, expecting the most out-of-ordinary scene. However, it was the opposite.

The last door was the largest of them all. Tai pushed it open, and there, he saw a library. He never saw one before, but someone described it to him once. However, what was before him was much, much more majestic than they described.

Each book was in pristine condition, all of them shiny and neat. This was why the large, rectangular table filled with scattered papers and open books immediately caught Tai's attention.

Aside from books, papers with scribblings on them laid carelessly on the table. Though Tenma's house was eccentric, this was the first time he saw something he could truly label as messy.

Tai decided to take a look at the only book that seemed to be handled with care. It laid there, untouched by its messy surroundings in front of the only chair by the table- and in the whole room. Tai gently turned the battered cover, revealing a dirty yellow page.

~~

Considering our world is called 'Folklore', it will suffice to assume that despite human beings being the most plentiful, folk beings are of great significance.

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Giants, Cinderellas, Rumpelstiltskins, Mother Gooses, the 'Hoods', Rampions(Rapunzels), Dancing Princesses and Fairies. Each of them are profoundly unique, sporting abilities that are nothing short of supernatural.

This book will explore all the folk beings of Folklore, as listed above, and will seek to give a comprehensive presentation of each, devoid of bias.

The writer hopes, through this text, the perception the reader has of these beings will be of a positive nature so that one day, we embrace these foreign creatures, in hope that all sentient beings will move into the future as allies, and not enemies.

~~

He frowned. Shouldn't Thumblings be folk beings too? He skimmed through the scattered pages on the table, and realized Tenma must have had the same question as well.

Turning what seemed to be the introduction page, his simple curiosity turned into greed for knowledge. Yet, he paused.

The very thought of Tenma catching him snooping around sent chills down his spine. The guy was always happy, but this forest taught him what an apex predator looked like. Tenma was way too comfortable living in a place like this. Alone.

Moreover, the fact that no bird came within a certain range of this colossal tree was rooted at the back of his mind. He closed the book and made sure that it was as he first saw it.

He sneaked out the room—not that anyone was there to see him anyways—and dashed across the never-ending corridor to the living room.

Tai panted, a little exhausted after his anxious sprint. He scraped his way to his 'bedroom', and laid on the bed. He soaked in the surreal comfort and stretched without care since Tenma wasn't home yet.

He looked at his hand that was wrapped in gauze due to the many infected abrasions Tenma said he had found. But then, something felt amiss. He wriggled his fingers and clenched them into a fist. There was no pain.

Tai unwrapped his left hand and to his surprise, what remained of the nasty cuts he had were fresh, pale flesh marks. He moved his shoulder, feeling out the deep puncture that should be there.

Tenma also mentioned the ghastly state his shoulder was in. Now, it felt as if there was no wound to begin with. He unwrapped the gauze on his shoulder. His skin was as good as new, with only a shadow of an injury left.

Tai unwrapped his other hand, torso, feet and head. Every wound, cut, bruise and everything in-between was gone. Tai couldn't help but marvel at the drug Tenma gave him. What was in it?

He ran around the room, jumped, stretched in every way possible, did pushups, sit ups—everything he could think of. He felt no pain, or any discomfort at all.

Tai grinned uncontrollably. Now, he had double the time to prepare for that competition.

Tai frolicked around the house like an energetic cockroach until Tenma returned. When he saw Tenma, he ran to him, eager to tell him what happened.

"Kid...you running around my house?" Tenma pinched between his brows and mumbled incoherently. "I see we will need some house rules," He stared daggers at Tai, who didn't know what he did wrong. He didn't knock over anything, or made a mess...

Then, Tenma's eyes widened. "Kid, you're fully healed?"

"Yes," Tai grinned, "Thanks for your tonic. You really know your stuff."

Tenma studied him, not saying anything.

"Will you teach me how to make it?" he tried his best to sound sincere.

Tenma grunted in response as he dropped a large sack by his work table, then headed to the corridor. Tai followed him without a second thought.

He then went into the room Tai found to be a kitchen. It was as large as his old home; he was completely humbled.

Tenma opened his huge cupboard and took out some ingredients. He then placed them on the island that was lined by stools. Tai sat on one of them and watched him cook.

"Kid, before you go trying to take over the kingdom and all that, you're gonna have to learn about what's around you. That includes the flora and fauna, the villages we have, and all the boring politics that comes with them," Tenma said.

"However, let's start with places you'll have to know while you're in the forest. There is the Sky, Tree, Ground, Moving and Neutral village," Tenma fetched a clay pot and turned on what seemed to be a pipe. Crystal clear water gushed into the pot.

"The Sky village lives at the very top of trees. They're always on birds, flying around. The Tree village dwells a little lower, making intricate houses within tree trunks, much like this house—"

"Where does the sky village sleep, if not inside trees?" Tai asked.

"I'm not done," Tenma glowered at him," You'll find out soon enough. The Ground village lives underground. The moving village lives on top of elephants. You hardly see them around. Do you know what elephants are?"

Tai shook his head.

Tenma snickered, "We have a lot of work to do. Now, the Neutral village does not have a set dwelling place. They are traders. They migrate from one village to another in search of opportunities. Of course, some settle down in villages where they find a steady flow of income. I, am the leader of the Neutral Village," Tenma looked at Tai with a smirk and pointed at the blue vertical lines on his cheek.

"If you're going to be in this forest, you must choose a village to be a part of.”