"Calm down Tyrus and think about this carefully."

Cradling his face in one hand and concentrating, Tyrus focused on rehashing and reflecting on every bit of the memories he recently gained. The first time it happened when he recently awakened, and he dreamed about being a baby wrapped in thick blankets. After that, he was taking a stroll through a field of meadows, having a conversation with a person about Beast Transformation and what he could achieve as a hybrid. Then came the most recent dream, and one of his longest and bizarre to date.

What stuck out to him the most was what happened toward the end. Assuming that everything he witnessed was real, and he found no real reason to deny it, it meant that he lived in the Beastfolk Kingdom for most of his life and only recently traveled to Lethos, which only amounted to two years. His dreams only confirmed that the woman in his dreams took care of him for as long as she could, but tossed him away for whatever reason.

Did she abandon him because he was a Demi-human? No, that couldn't be it. When speaking to Alderus, she seemed genuinely angry that he called him a Demi-human and not by his real name, so there's that. Between them, there was at least some form of attachment. What would that make her? A guardian, caretaker, or even a mother, maybe. It wasn't exactly a wild idea to think that Wanderer took care of him most of his life.

That thought circled back to why Wanderer pretended to not know of him. In fact, how did he forget about her? No way would he forget someone as significant as his caretaker or potentially a mother. She must've used some kind of magic to erase his memories.

At that same second, that was when the realization smacked him across the face. Those black tendrils that engulfed him in his dream must be responsible! His head flared with pain as soon as those things touched him, and that must've somehow done a number on him. And those tendrils looked just like the ones that the dark sorcerer used against those lizardmen!

Tyrus wracked his brain back to their second encounter when she saved him from those Scourge guys. Out of nowhere, that orc-man struck his own partner and even slit his own throat. Those actions from him were definitely unnatural. One moment they were beating him to a pulp, and the next thing he knew, they were dead. With their bodies gone, the only one that appeared was Wanderer. Every detail he could remember traced back to Wanderer.

Then, a dark thought crossed his mind: he had unknowingly been engaging with a dark sorcerer all along. And to make matters worse, he discovered that he had some kind of connection with her. If she had the power to manipulate memories, what else could she have done to his body?

Seeking answers, Tyrus retrieved the book of incantations and flipped through the pages, almost ripping a few from his frantic action. Scanning through each page, he finally landed on the chapter about the dark element. He was hoping he missed nothing the last time he read it. Sadly, he truly read all there was pertaining to it.

From the limited amount of information he could gleam, it only talked about the few uses of the dark element and the only spell shown, that being Shadow Bolt. He already knew that a dark sorcerer could control the actions of others and shadows, but that told him nothing he wanted to hear or see.

Tyrus stashed the book back into the ring and sighed. "Once again, I reach a dead end. Every time I learn something new, two more questions pop up, each one leading me to find another answer and a whole other set of questions. Why is this happening to me specifically?"

Tyrus sat there in silence, listening to a distant brook running amongst a bird's sharp caw. Thickets and leaves rustled softly around him as rodents scurried away from their burrows, probably searching for food. A lesser hound even appeared from a nearby tree, sniffing around. Their eyes met briefly, and the beast turned on its heels and ran.

"I shouldn't feel defeated," Tyrus said to himself. "I'll keep looking for the answers to these burning questions, no matter what. While it may seem small now, I still learned something new, and that's enough. I've made it this far, and I do not plan on running or giving up."

Tyrus slowly rose from his bed, his hand still tightly gripping the orb. He gazed at the artifact, allowing himself to appreciate the smooth and warm texture against his fingertips. As he examined it further, he noticed something peculiar. Despite resembling a colossal marble, the orb was adorned with black runes scrawled across its pearly-white surface. And upon closer inspection, he caught a small section at the bottom that suggested it was dipped in ink.

"Was that always there?"

Just as he tried to remember, a mote of green light sped toward him. Knowing it was Meadow, he pocketed the artifact and began walking toward the speedy spirit. He paused when the spirit stopped just a finger's length away from his face. A tiny frown was plastered on her face. In her tiny arms, she carried a heart-shaped leaf filled with a variety of fruits and nuts.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"A-Are you alright, Savior?" she said in a sad, nearly whispery tone. "It looked like you were having a nightmare through all the tossing and turning, so I went ahead and brought you some food whenever you woke up."

Tyrus rubbed his forehead and said, "Yeah, I had a nightmare. It wasn't anything serious, so don't worry about it. You really didn't have to do this for me."

"I did it because I wanted to. You're still the Hero of Wildwood, even if you rescinded that title away. This much is nothing at all."

"...Then I'll take it with a smile. I'm really starving right now," Tyrus replied.

Meadow bobbed her tiny head. "Not a problem at all. You see, these berries right here are called a phala fruit, and it's really sweet and juicy. And this white kernel right here is called clam nut. It's got a bitter but salty taste to it, but some of us seem to enjoy it regardless. Oh, and this one right here is—"

Meadow went on and on about the different items she collected the past ten minutes. Tyrus listened intently, not wanting to disrupt her moment as he took a bite of the smooth phala fruit. In one bite, a sweet liquid drenches his tongue, and his eyelids shot up in surprise. He had never tasted a berry with so much water contained inside of it. Even then, that didn't take away from the fruit's flavor.

Meadow flew circles around him as she asked, "Good, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's really good," Tyrus responded, popping another phala fruit into his mouth. He couldn't help but wonder why the clam nut had been named that way as he took a small nibble. Initially, it left a terrible taste in his mouth, but the saltiness quickly overwhelmed the bitterness. Without even realizing it, Tyrus devoured all the food within a matter of seconds.

"Meadow, can you show me where'd you get all these fruits and nuts from?"

The light around Meadow glowed brighter as she nodded furiously. "Gladly! Even better, I can show you other types of fruits and nuts that are edible if you so wish."

Tyrus smiled. "I was thinking the same thing. Sorry for the trouble. I can hunt and skin beasts, but I'm terrible when it comes to foraging. Because of that, I stay away from mushrooms and anything that looks poisonous."

The earth spirit giggled in response and gave him a gentle nudge. "It will be my pleasure in teaching our Savior about these things. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me or any of the spirits. We'll help you in a flash. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you where I found the phala fruit."

Without hesitation, Meadow swiftly turned around and made her way toward the trees, ensuring she maintained a steady pace. Tyrus, feeling a slight throbbing in his head, followed suit. He knew he needed to distract himself from what he had just learned. Once his state of mind improved, he could delve back into it. In the meantime, he thought it would be beneficial to learn about foraging.

***

Tyrus hadn't been paying attention, but he realized that his enchanted coat was back in its usual form while he was relaxing near a pond. He figured that out an hour after bathing and drying his garments off in the sun. Ivy was right after all, which Tyrus didn't question in the first place. She seemed like a really smart person by the way she talked about certain topics.

While he was waiting for his stuff to dry, he had been practicing his magic in the meantime. In both his hands, he allowed lighting to flow freely and coil around his arm in the same way a serpent would. The arcs of energy that raced along his skin merely tickled him, but what he was working on was stabilizing the flow of mana. The movements of his magic were still not smooth, and he failed to understand why.

He knew for a fact he was pouring most of his concentration on making the arcs as straight as a line. They would straighten out, sure, but that would only last for half a second before it gets all shaky. That applied to Lightning Bolt and his other spells as well. Most frustrating of all was that using incantations neglected the issue, but he already knew that thanks to Fiona.

What bothered him was the fact that basic incantations required little thought or focus to use, while silent casting demanded strong concentration and imagination. From Tyrus' perspective, incantations seemed to serve no purpose other than being a simple trigger for a spell, doing the work for him. Since he was actively dedicating his full attention to creating and executing his own magic, shouldn't it be easier to not fully rely on his mind? Or was he approaching it from the wrong way?

As soon as his mana heart was about half-way empty, he stopped his elements' activation and took a deep breath, assuming a meditative pose and entering the Sorcerer Plane. The first thing he checked was how the third branch of his reservoir was coming along, and he almost leaped up in joy at the sight. What used to be a quarter of the way full, the white light had finally dipped its toes onto the fourth branch.

It was about time he passed the requirements to use another element! Though he barely used the other two, it was better he had access to more elements at all times. You never know when you'll need water to put out a fire or earth to make a crude home during rainstorms. If he remembered right, all he had to do was envision the element he wished to bring forth and it'll appear above his palm, just like the others. Since he'd been looking forward to this for a while, he already had one element in mind.

Just as he was about to conjure forth an additional element, a frantic voice spilled into his ears, calling out his name. Cracking one eye open, Tyrus looked to see Meadow speeding toward him, and the look of worry and concern painted all over her face.

"T-There's an intruder, this time a sorcerer!" she yelled. "We need your help once more!"

Horror slathered Tyrus's face as he rose up. A sorcerer was causing trouble in Wildwood? Could it be that the dark sorcerer followed him here and was going to finish him off!? Did that black tiger find out that it was an artifact that swallowed up the corrupted mana?

Right as he was about to request Meadow's guidance to find the sorcerer, a sudden, pinching pain shot through his chest, and he felt his mana heart dwindle as mana from his vessels sprinkled out from his hand. When he looked down at his palms, his jaw dropped at the sight of shadow tentacles squirming around.