As darkness fell, my stomach reminded me that I hadn't eaten all day. I knew how to hunt - I'd had to learn out of necessity - but I needed a bow or arrows to be able to handle it.

"What am I even supposed to eat?" I muttered to myself.

A friendly-looking elf I'd never seen before gave me a playful tap on the shoulder. I jumped a little, but he didn't seem to mind.

"They've finally let you stay overnight, huh?" He said.

"Stay overnight? What do you mean?"

"Well, as your training progresses, they have you newcomers stay out in the forest for the night. My name's Calen, by the way."

"Falond. But what am I supposed to do out here?"

"Live with nature. Adapt to being out here without any comforts. You'll likely end up living out in the wild sometimes, Falond. You'll have to learn how to survive and thrive."

"Live here? I don't even know what's safe to eat!" I exclaimed.

"That's good," Calen replied. "Most of the animals around here are off-limits to hunt unless they're hostile monsters. But the chance of you running into one of those is slim. Instead, you'll need to learn which fruits and plants are safe to eat. I can show you a few as your night guide."

"Night guide?"

"Right. The first time your trainers leave you out here alone, they assign someone like me to show you how to survive. Nature provides for us, Falond. Most young elves are nearly self-sufficient by your age, if not completely so."

"But let's get to it. First, we need to find a clearing. We'll set up traps around it, then build a shelter. We don't have any supplies, so we'll have to gather sturdy roots and leaves for a canopy. It's going to rain tonight."

Calen approached an Ent I hadn't noticed without wasting time and asked it for some leaves and roots. The Ent responded in a language I didn't understand, and when some leaves and roots appeared, I figured the Ent had agreed.

We used the leaves and roots to create an improvised campsite, and Calen showed me how to build simple traps. They were designed more to delay anything that crossed them and alert us to its presence than for actual capture.

Calen also cast some nature wards. I watched, unable to cast them myself, as he summoned these natural alarm systems. According to Calen, they could be made in many forms, serving as an additional alarm and repellent for parasitic bugs. Quite handy.

After securing the perimeter, we turned our attention to the interior of the campsite. Calen guided me in weaving a simple leaf roof, reinforcing it with his nature magic. I couldn't participate in the magic part but I helped with the weaving. It took us longer than usual because Calen had to teach me the process.

Next, we gathered deadwood and leftover roots. After shaving down the deadwood and Calen enhancing them with his nature magic, we had fashioned bows as good as, if not better, any you'd find in my old city.

By this point, it was already past midnight, and we still hadn't found any plants to eat. The hunger seemed to get to Calen, too, as he instructed me to watch and learn as he focused on foraging. The bows weren't just for defense against sudden monster attacks; many plants weren't defenseless either. Some could spit poison or lash out with vines. A well-placed arrow could neutralize these plant threats with minimal trouble.

Nature has a way of rewarding those willing to take risks. The plants that were hardest to gather were often the most nutritious. Two such examples were the Thornstalk and Vine berry, which seemed to be staples in the diet of those living outside the encampment.

Thornstalk was a plant with large, greenish-yellow leaves lined with thorny edges and stems covered in sharp spikes. When threatened, it releases toxins from its roots that spread into the surrounding ground. If the plant's flower bud was picked, this triggered the release of a poison that caused a burning sensation in anyone nearby. In response to the toxin, the plant would launch its spikes in all directions, potentially causing injury. Despite these defenses, the plant's flower bud and stem were edible and highly nutritious. At the same time, the roots could be used to create mild poisons.

Vine berry, on the other hand, reacted to threats or disturbances by lashing out with its vines at lightning speed. A network of interconnected roots underneath the soil helped the plant sense disturbances and defend itself. Despite its aggressive nature, Vine berry was highly prized by the elves due to its incredible nutritional value, making it a prized food source in the wild.

The berries of the Vine berry plant were small, round, and deep purple, with a glossy finish that made them look almost polished. They could be eaten as fruit, used to make wine, or processed to create a disinfectant.

The plant's vines were thin and long, equipped with sharp, light green thorns that appeared at regular intervals. Almost translucent, these thorns were hard and sharp enough to inflict considerable damage on unprotected skin. Despite these dangers, the benefits of the Vine berry made the risk worthwhile for many.

Those two plants - the Thornstalk and the Vine berry - made up more than half of the typical food gathered in this area, according to Calen. Once you knew what to look for, it was hard not to spot them all around. The bows we had made came in handy because both plants had limited defense ranges. A well-placed arrow shot could rid you of their threats without much difficulty.

There wasn't time for me to get comfortable with the bow, and despite Calen's help, I remained on edge around him. As a result, my nerves messed with my aim, and not one of my shots hit their mark during our hour of foraging.

Trust was tough for me, and getting used to my new life was hard, too. Not long ago, I lived in a city in a rundown room. Even if it was a decaying place, it was my place. Who knew someone could miss the slums?

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The first elf I met tricked me into a contract that took my freedom. I still didn't fully understand what that meant for me. I had a feeling that this deal would cost me a lot later. And there was no going back now. I was stuck with these nature-loving elves and a few aura-crazy humans. It didn't help that their lead of all people found joy in trying to tease me. Could you blame me for lacking the desire to trust them fully?

Hadrian made me think there would be more humans where we were going, but that wasn't true at this camp. The elves were okay with the humans, but it was clear who needed whom.

Calen approached me with a wooden bowl brimming with fruits and herbs. There was a distinctive spicy aroma wafting from it. I grabbed the bowl and began gobbling down the food, driven by hunger. Calen was silent, quite unusual for his cheerful self. Perhaps he preferred quiet during meals? But a nagging sense of unease stopped me mid-chew. There was something off about the spice.

Seeing me set the half-eaten meal aside, Calen broke his silence. He sighed resignedly, "You've eaten enough for the effect to kick in, Falond. That spice was a sedative. You should start feeling drowsy... now."

His eyes twinkled, and a wave of green energy radiated from his hands. I immediately felt sleepy, collapsing into a hammock made of woven plants. Despite being fresh from nature, Calen's magic had kept them clean and dry. My exhaustion and the spice's sedative effect soon overwhelmed me, and I fell into a deep sleep.

___

My head throbbed as blood rushed to it. A chilly breeze swept my face, clearing away some of the grogginess. But the headache persisted. Being dangled upside down from towering tree branches by vines tends to have that effect. It was hardly surprising, given the size of the trees in this forest. Without time to make out left or right, a group of elves appeared below me. I recognized Verdenia and Calen, but the others were strangers. There were no humans in sight, not even Hadrian. Did they know I'd end up like this?

"Falond, you're about to go through your first ritual - the Rite of the Naien Forest. Typically, we perform this on our children. It's meant to forge a connection between you, the forest, and nature's essence. You have the same potential within you, even if you're not aware of it yet. The brand you've been given is a far greater gift than you currently understand. This ritual will speed up integrating that power into you. Nature will make you stronger, and you'll need that strength for what we elves will ask of you in the future."

"There are also a few side effects when this ritual is performed on a human, but you'll have to endure those. This is all for your good. The damage you've inflicted on yourself is excessive. You need a purifying touch of nature. Your body is riddled with the aftereffects of your destructive mana rituals. You can't become the sword of the Moth in this state."

"Side effects? What damage? Let me down; I don't need this suspicious ritual." I tried to deny the toll all those mana rituals had taken on my body. But one look at me was enough to prove Verdenia right. My right arm still hadn't fully recovered. Though less noticeable, the blue veins were still all over my body. My eyes showed signs of strain, and sections of my hair had turned white. Instead of a full head of brown hair, I now had a mix of white and brown. These were all clear signs of mana corruption.

Ignoring what I said, Verdenia approached me, manipulating her vines. Vines strapped down my arms, and even when rotating aura, nothing could be done. Turns out, it's hard to transfer aura through the sides of your arms. At least for me so far. Seeing this situation, a few odd feelings began to click into place. No wonder Hadrian had banned me from actively learning to use aura. He knew this was going to happen. Using aura would make me more challenging to control, and they couldn't have that yet.

Verdenia locked eyes with me, reciting an incantation. Suddenly, I was muted. Not just silent but genuinely voiceless. I couldn't even move my vocal cords. Smirking, she kissed my cheek. "Grow further, my bound. You'll serve a great purpose in the future. In more ways than one."

She dropped down and turned, forming a circle around me. The ritual began. A distinctive chant resonated through the air in a language that sounded more like a song than speech. It was unlike anything I knew. Dryads, which I hadn't seen for a while, appeared. And for the first time, I saw a few elementals and fairies. They danced both below and above me. Whatever the elves were doing, it was bringing nature out to the fullest.

The chant changed, becoming hypnotic. My vision blurred, and strange dreams began to populate my mind. A faint song echoed in the back of my mind, but I could only make out a few words.

…. The Moth Yore…

…. Who Shoulders…

… A Burden…

...Opponent Mana…

…Of Fate…

…Forgotten…

My mind blurred increasingly, and nothing else was decipherable; an unexpected sensation of being submerged took over. Somehow, I found myself in a pond that had been formed beneath me. The vine that had bound me was no longer taut, indicating that it had been cut. However, they had also fastened it around my wrists and ankles. While my freedom of movement was more significant, I couldn't swim. I was unable to breathe, yet everything was so peaceful.

The hypnotic chanting, which remained irresistible despite the sound being muffled by the water, brought about mental clarity. My aura began to rotate subconsciously, then was suppressed into a state of dormancy. As if possessing a mind of its own, my aura appeared to ignore me, distracted by something else willfully. This thought set off alarm bells in my head. How is that even possible?

As this thought crossed my mind, several elixirs or potions were poured into the makeshift pond where I was submerged. I could feel the potent energy brimming within the liquid, feeling the power of these concoctions. From my perspective, five different vials were emptied into the water. Ignoring that they should dilute into the water, their contents were drawn towards each other as though magnetically attracted.

The individual liquids merged into a singular, spherical mass as they converged and came down toward me. Defying the laws of physics, this liquid molded itself, morphing into a form mirroring the regal leaf emblazoned on my chest.

An intense, searing pain radiated from the brand on my chest, triggering a vortex to be forced into existence. Unlike before, the contents of the potions offered no resistance - they seemed eager, excited even. The semi-solid leaf-shaped mass collided with my chest brand. Following this, my entire body began to throb rhythmically. My mind underwent a profound transformation, fostering a deeper connection to nature. For a moment, I felt less like a human and more like the beating heart of the surrounding forest.

Time seemed to stretch and distort. Memories, some mine, some not, flashed before me. Some were echoes from the past, and others were premonitions of the future—glimpses of what must be and hints of what could be. Eventually, the visage of the Moth reappeared before me.

Lately, I thought the Moth didn't disappear that day. Instead, it likely entered a unique state connected with my mind, especially now, as I experienced faint feelings of the creature attempting to communicate with me. My body felt strange – the water seemed solid, the earth beneath me as light as air. And the air I had been so desperate for earlier now seemed insignificant. In my mind, I sensed a chain. It hadn't broken but loosened, propelling me into a meditative state.

Had my attention been on my body instead of my mind, I would have noticed that the power within had started to blend. This subtly shifted my mindset towards nature and forged a new connection. It was as if nature's essence and my aura were merging partially.

Most importantly, a deep feeling inside of me arose. I was ready. I was prepared for the final step before I could enter the portal. Would I get the answers finally? Would this give me the power to have my say in this world? Could the dual paths of power let me stand proudly before my family? Would my exile end?