Barbarians were easy to recognize, because of their unique... Characteristics. Most of them, men and women alike, were big, but that wasn't their defining feature. What really set them apart from normal people were their tattoos.

Barbarian tattoos weren't made by someone. They were born with them. The tattoos were usually lines and dots without much sense, but impressive nonetheless. From the moment they left the womb, and entered in contact with the air, the tattoos would start appearing.

Each tribe had a different kind of tattoo. If people from different groups got involved, the baby would have a tattoo that was a mixture of those of their parents. That would follow up through their own children, creating, with time, entirely new tribes.

If a Barbarian had a son or daughter with someone who wasn't one of them, the tattoo would never show up. How such an amazing characteristic worked, no one knew. It just did.

Black Bird was exactly how the photos Drake had seen of Barbarians depicted them. Tall, strong, tanned skin, and short black hair. On the left side of his face was a dark blue tattoo that looked like three claws side by side. Under it were a few dots of different sizes.

"What you want? Huh!"

His voice was deep and guttural, as it should be on a people that decided most of the things through fighting. His speech was also weird, another characteristic of the Barbarians. The biologist side of Drake was intrigued. Although they were humans - proved by the fact that they could have fertile offspring with non-Barbarians - they were a lot different. Evolution had worked a whole different path for them.

Still, curious as he was, there were other times to seek the answers to his questions. Now, he made sure to keep the two men at gunpoint while retreating towards the door slowly. Before he showed himself, he made sure to announce to Anna and Alex that it was him, so they wouldn't shoot him by mistake.

"Hey! You can come, I got them!"

Without wasting any time, the Nulls ran to the cabin. Alex walked straight past him, searching for Zaplin. In the heat of the moment, Drake had completely forgotten about it. Looking closely now, he saw that Black Bird and the other man had burnt marks all around their bodies, and that there was smoke rising from their heads.

"You bastards! I will f*cking kill you!"

Alex's Zaplin was in a bad shape. Two of it´s wings were broken, and the Ifere was unresponsive to the agent's touch. The only sign it was still alive was that it's chest was quivering very, very slightly. It seemed to have been swatted away by something, possibly a chair.

"No! Calm down! Alex, calm down!"

In his anger, the Null had pulled out his pistol, and was aiming at the two criminals. The fat one was trembling, while Black Bird still had the same stern look on his face. Drake was forced to get in between them, and stop him. Luckily, Anna came in at that time, and pulled her partner aside.

"Alex, listen to me. Zaplin needs help immediately. Go to Park, and find an Arton. I and Drake will take care of those two."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. We are more than enough to deal with two defeated dogs."

The agent nodded repeatedly, and left while carrying Zaplin carefully. He was too worried about his companion to consider anything else. Drake could understand. If Frainer ever was hurt, he would probably behave the same way. He just hoped that day never came.

Seeing Anna's Zaplin darting around anxiously made Drake remember how weird the Iferes were behaving. A quick look at Frainer revealed the small mist ball was acting the same way.

"You killed her?"

Anna brought him back from his thoughts. She was looking at the woman's body on the floor. A small puddle of blood had appeared under her, but for now, Drake was already used to it. He nodded slowly.

"Well, yeah. She was trying to end me."

The Null stared at him for some time. He wasn't exactly sure why. She had tried to kill him, and he had defended himself.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Okay. Now, let's see what Black Bird has to tell us."

"I tell you nothing. Huh. You scum people kill Black Bird's friend."

Drake raised an eyebrow. That was a twisted line of thought.

"Your friend had it coming. Where is Scarred Jack?"

"Black Bird don't say. Huh!"

He looked at Anna, waiting for her to do something. Drake's fists were itching to teach the Barbarian a lesson, but he had promised to let her question him. He regretted that decision. A lot.

...

Half an hour later, both Black Bird and the fatty were a mess on the ground, whimpering for mercy. Physically, they were okay, but mentally... Drake wished he never had to go through a Secret Service interrogation. He would probably bite his own tongue and try to bleed to death.

Still, they got what they wanted to know, not from Black Bird, but the other man. The Barbarian refused to talk still, showing a loyalty Scarred Jack didn't deserve.

The mad outlaw was hiding in a canyon nearby, with the rest of his gang, about fifteen people. The canyon was surrounded by trees and dense vegetation from all sides, apparently, providing perfect cover. The only way in or out was through a narrow path between the rock walls, easily defended.

"What do you plan on doing, Anna?"

"Uhmm... We are too few to face fifteen hardened criminals. I will call for backup from the Menoraz Army, but it will take at least two days for them to arrive."

"He said two men in the canyon could hold an army, right? I should work the other way around. We can keep..."

"Tututu! Tutu..."

He was interrupted by Frainer's excited cries. The Ifere and Zaplin were looking at a piece of cloth on the corner of the house, and trying to pull it. However, Zaplin was too small and Frainer didn't have arms. He seemed to have forgotten he could use Telekinesis.

Exchanging glances with Anna, Drake walked towards the corner, and picked up the cloth with a small hesitation. Underneath it was a steel cage, and, inside it, was a small Ifere.

"T-That... That's a Kniivar!"

There was a good reason for her surprise. The small creature was also known as the Son of Gods, for their skills. Needless to say, they were coveted by many, but only a few hundred Kniivars remained, most of them captive.

The Kniivar was mostly ordinary looking, actually. It's pelt was dark green, and it's soft fur was dirty with dry mud. It had four legs, which ended in clawed feet. It's tail was long, with a fiery red tip, and coiled around it's body. The head was proportional to the rest of the body, with a long and thin snout.

It was there that the Kniivar started looking extraordinary. The two eyes, although closed now, were a mixture of countless different shades of green and yellow. It was as if someone had painted it. It also had two small and white horns, curved backwards. A twig with a few leaves coiled around these horns, creating an intricate and beautiful pattern. Of course, the Kniivar was a wood-type Ifere, but a very special one.

Kniivars had four known skills. The first one was Wood Realm, a common wood-type skill that created an area with a ten meters radius around the user where all plants could be controlled at will. When the skill was in use, several roots would extend from the Ifere to the ground, so he couldn't move, otherwise the skill would be interrupted.

The second skill was also quite normal, and it was called Poison Claw. The name was pretty self-explanatory. As for the third skill, it was special. It was called Tree Of Life.

Tree Of Life would transform the entire body of the Kniivar into a tree. The type of tree varied from individual to individual, but all of them had strong healing capabilities. Using parts of the tree, or even the entirety of it, could cure anything from a scratch to a missing limb. However, it could only be used once in the lifetime of the Ifere, and it would hurt it profoundly. Uprooting the entire tree could kill it.

That skill was the main reason as to why Kniivars were so coveted. But they also had a fourth impressive ability, named simply Uproot. By using Uproot, the Ifere could absorb the life force of plants, and use it to deal a powerful blast.

All in all, it was understandable that Kniivars were so rare. They were a step above most other Iferes. And one of them was laying in the cage, dirty and hurt. As one, Anna and Drake turned to the two criminals, anger in their eyes.

"Where did you find him? And what were you going to do with it?"

For once, Black Bird didn't refuse to answer, maybe because it had nothing to do with Scarred Jack.

"We found it with merchant, and took it. Huh. Sell very well later."

"You aren't going to sell sh*t, a*shole. It's a sacrilege that Sons of Gods are kept as pets, but this isn't going to happen to this one."

Drake now understood why the Iferes were so nervous and anxious. Kniivars were dear to any creature. Only death-type Iferes attacked them, maybe because of their repulsion towards anything that had to do with healing.

Using the butt of his rifle to bust open the lock, Drake picked up the small Kniivar. As he did so, it opened it's eyes and trembled, probably scared that Drake would hurt it. It melted his heart.

"Shh... Calm down, little fella. We are here to help, don't worry."

He continuously patted and caressed it, with Frainer on his shoulder looking at the Kniivar curiously. Maybe understanding that he was a friend, the Ifere closed it's beautiful eyes, and enjoyed the caring touch. Suddenly, a bright purple light blinded everyone in the house.