Chapter 29: In the palm of my hands

I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but when I slowly opened my eyes, rain was falling from the sky.

My whole body was soaked by the fresh rain. However, it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation as it helped me cool my burns and ease the pain assaulting all parts of my body.

I tried to stand up, but my legs refused to obey.

I was lucky not to have been attacked by other animals while I was unconscious, but I couldn’t stay in the same place.

As I couldn’t stand up, I slowly crawled toward the end of the boulder to reach the center of the rock formation.

Slowly, painfully, I dragged my battered body toward the edge with only my right hand and small pushes from my legs. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t move my left arm anymore.

The tendons of my shoulder were probably severed.

I finally arrived at the end of the boulder. I had no other choice but to fall as gently as possible to the ground. However, even with my cautiousness, I still fell from around five feet high.

*Boom*

I suppressed a scream while my body cracked in protest after this harsh treatment.

I stayed on my back to gather my strength and fought to stay conscious before crawling once again.

After a few minutes of painful agony, I finally arrived in front of my backpack. I used my clumsy mangled right hand with my teeth to open it before recovering a small vial containing a blue liquid.

It was one of the potions Hirillë gave me.

I opened it as fast as I could before drinking it in one gulp.

The taste was bitter, but I couldn’t be less concerned about that.

My eyelids were heavy.

I couldn’t resist the urge to let go of my consciousness any longer.

Praying that no animal would attack me, I let the darkness get a hold of my consciousness once again.

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The sky was still dark when I slowly opened my eyes. Only a timid moonlight illuminated my surroundings, giving an eerie feeling.

I was in a puddle of water created by the constant rain. It was so large that I was lucky not to have drowned while I was unconscious.

The potion seemed to have some effect, as the pain assailing me lessened by a lot.

I carefully raised my upper body to sit in the water. The stiffness I felt confirmed that the fight against the deviant wasn’t a nightmare.

My body and clothes were totally soaked in cold water. I sneezed and put my right hand by reflex in front of my mouth.

“Eh?”

I let out a surprised sound as I looked at my right hand in front of my mouth. The bite mark was gone, but that wasn’t the reason for my surprise. The wound wasn’t severe on my hand in the first place. It wasn't the same for my arm.

However, I couldn’t see any trace anymore.

Except for some numbness remaining, my right arm was as good as new without any bite or burn mark. I stared blankly at my arm for several seconds while remembering the bones protruding from under my skin after the severe bite.

I moved my right arm and hand in every direction, but I couldn’t feel any real discomfort.

I immediately reached for my left cheek, but instead of a burned skin, I could only feel my usual smooth skin.

My left arm was the same.

I couldn’t move it after the surprise attack by one of the deviant’s followers, but I couldn’t feel any pain anymore.

I slowly rose to my feet and touched my body carefully to search for a painful area but I couldn’t find any.

I was amazed as I looked at the empty vial next to my backpack.

It wasn’t just a potion anymore in my mind. I finally understood why Humans desperately tried to replicate it for decades.

It wasn’t a curing potion, but a regenerative one.

I couldn’t help but laugh a little as the anxiety left my body. I couldn’t thank Hirillë enough in my mind. I knew Elves could make different kinds of potions, but this one was clearly of the highest grade.

I took the empty vial in my hand as gently as I could and looked at it with eyes filled with thankfulness.

"Thank you Hirillë."

As I turned my head to look at the body of the deviant almost completely hidden in the darkness of the night, a small dizziness assailed my head.

This potion had an incredible regenerative ability, but it clearly couldn’t completely restore the mana.

I used too much mana in my fight, and even if my body was healed, I wasn’t in any condition to fight anymore. I was sure that if the light of the moon illuminated the water under my feet more brightly, I would be able to see my reflection betray the pallor of my skin.

I sat again on the ground with my back against the boulder trying to protect myself from the furious rain coming from the sky.

I wished I had enough strength to look for a shelter, but I wasn’t in any condition to leave my hiding ground.

Even if I was, walking alone in the darkness was just asking for death.

I wrapped the drenched blanket around my body trying to protect me from the coldness of the wind.

My first night in the wilderness was almost the last and was definitely the most painful I had in my two lives.

Without anybody to stand guard, it wasn’t possible to sleep peacefully.

I finally understood the true terror of the wilderness.

I spent the night fighting against the cold while watching anxiously at the white ring on my thumb praying for it not to illuminate the darkness around me.

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When the morning light timidly came, the rain had almost completely stopped. I didn’t close my eyes the entire night. I felt that my body wasn't yet able to handle much of my mana as I didn’t get to rest properly. However, I couldn’t stay like this forever.

I slowly stood up and stretched my sore limbs. I was completely frozen with my entire body soaked by the rain the entire night. Even without the rain, I didn't want to make another fire because I was afraid it would attract another deviant.

I couldn’t know for sure, but the fact that a deviant able to spit fire was attracted by the fire I created wasn’t an unrealistic idea. As I wasn’t in any condition for another fight, I chose the cold and the darkness.

However, now that the sun was almost up, I wanted a fire to dry my clothes and to warm myself a bit while eating some fruits from my bag.

I was in a hurry to find a town where I could send a letter, but I knew that I couldn’t rush into the wilderness without regaining some strength first.

I was already lucky that Hirillë gave me these miraculous potions, otherwise, I would have no other choice but to spend several days resting. 

With such thoughts, I climbed the huge rock that was the ring of my deadly fight against the deviant and its followers last night. The corpse of the creature was still lying with a part of its head missing. I watched the wound while recalling my last attack. The speed of my small earthball was without any doubt far superior to any other earthball I shot before that.

I didn’t know if this speed was because of my abnormal focus in this life or death situation, or just because the projectile was smaller, but this was something I had to check in my future training.

The hole in the head of the beast was the only trace remaining of our fight. The rain had washed the blood covering its fur, which regained its natural orange and black color. After a few seconds of silent contemplation, I gathered some mana in my hand and finally used fire magic to burn the corpse of my mortal foe

I didn’t want any other scavenger or god knows what creature to be attracted by a rotting corpse.

I did the same with the four other bodies, which quickly disappeared into the flames of my magic.

I spent some time watching the body of the deviant burn slowly as dark smoke erupted from it along with a displeasing smell.

"As I thought, it had a fire resistance."

My choice not to use fire against it was correct and probably saved my life.

I had quite a few narrow escapes when I fought in organized matches in my old world, but confronting a savage beast was totally different. I wasn’t able to easily predict its movements and with my short and weak body, it wasn’t possible to resist with physical strength alone.

I didn’t predict that this deviant would have a regenerative ability either. If I had been just a bit slower dealing with my other assailants, I would not have the chance to escape their combined assault.

"So this is a deviant…" I slowly muttered.

I was still in shock after my fight with the deviant. As far as I could remember, my parents always told me not to go play too far in the forest by fear of a deviant attacking me. This fear and those precautions were engraved in the mind of the children very early. Therefore, it was a natural thing for the children of this world to fear them. Only a few who dreamed of becoming Adventurers wanted to confront them.

However, for someone like me coming from a different world, the words of my parents didn’t instill fear in my mind.

Only cautiousness and curiosity.

I was already interested in the animal and the mysterious creature of this world, so it was no wonder that the deviants picked my interest.

I searched in several books about them, but I couldn’t find anything else than what I already knew. Deviants were dangerous creatures born from normal animals under the influence of a dense mana. Deviants able to suppress their surging instinct and bloodthirsty state were so rare that some Humans thought that only creatures with a vicious heart would awaken as a deviant even if it was proven to be wrong. In their bloodthirsty state, they had a primal instinct several times stronger than those of the original animal. Their physical ability also increased accordingly with their age most of the time. For this reason, guard patrols were organized to deal with them while they were still weak and vulnerable after their awakening.

I asked Gandalf about deviants once, but he only told me that there were many different kinds of deviants and that I mustn’t look for them under any circumstance. My father, who was an adventurer, added to that that there were different levels of deviant before my mother sent him another of her furious glare.

I never heard that deviants could use magic, so it probably wasn't the case for all of them.

This was likely what my father meant when he spoke of different levels among deviants.

I finally got away from the corpse on fire before heading carefully toward the small forest I had seen five hundred meters away from my hiding spot.

The small forest was probably no more than a couple of kilometers wide, but even with its small size, the mana emanating from it was clearly a little denser than in the bare plain.

It was no wonder.

After all, forests were places overflowing with life and, as a result, with mana.

I didn’t dare enter the forest in my weakened state and instead chose to cut some small branches with my bare hands. I also gathered wood on the ground. After a few minutes, I headed with a log of wet wood in my hands toward my resting place.

It took me some time to light a fire because I had to dry the wood first, but it was worth it. The small fire emitted a small light along with a comfortable heat. I got rid of my clothes and enjoyed the warmth of the fire to dry them.

I waited clutched near the fire enjoying the comforting heat until the last embers died out. My clothes were nearly dry, so I put them on before eating another ‘Ovel’ inside my backpack as my breakfast.

"Time to go."

I was able to rest a little bit so I could finally resume my journey. I headed east one more.

I spent the rest of the day walking at a steady pace while avoiding every animal I saw. Fortunately, none of them were interested in me.

I was able to travel quite a bit of distance before I decided to stop. The sun was still high in the sky, but I wasn’t a fool. I wasn’t going to repeat the same mistake I made the day before.

I had to start looking for a shelter. Something to hide me from animals and to protect me from the weather.

I didn’t forget the coldness I felt during the previous night and wasn’t willing to experience the same thing twice.

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After nearly an hour of research, I found a small isolated cave. The entrance was quite well concealed, so I nearly missed it.

I approached carefully and prepared to fight.

I had trouble seeing beyond a couple of feet in front of me. After some time, the narrow cave became larger. A large dome illuminated by strange plants on the walls replaced the small passage.

The pale-green light coming from those plants projected numerous shadows all around me. Those green shadows gave an eerie feeling, but also helped me see the whole cave.

The entrance was small and hardly visible from the outside, but the interior was impressive. I couldn’t clearly see the end of the cave, but there was no doubt that it was very wide.

I was growing more cautious each second as it seemed difficult to believe that such a cave didn’t have an owner.

I looked for any trace of life, but the meager light coming from the plants on the walls didn’t allow a careful examination. A good part of the cave was plunged into a total darkness.

I spent the day walking while being attentive to my surroundings, but my focus couldn’t compare to this moment. I pushed my senses to their limit, trying to see or hear anything. However, there was nothing. It was as if life itself left this cave. Even time seemed to have slowed inside.

The deathly silence around me was oppressive.

After a minute as long as a century of careful observation, I finally relaxed.

I lowered my hand that I held ready to shoot magic at any time.

The moment I put my guard down, I sense shivers running down my spine. I didn’t hear or see anything. I just knew that something was wrong. My body moved on its own and jumped to the side.

*BOOM*

The place I was standing a moment ago had a frightening hole printed in the ground.

However, I didn’t have the leisure to watch this terrifying scene. After rolling on the ground, I stood up as fast as I could and fired a waterball.

My magic quickly left my hand and powerlessly crashed against a wall of the cave without touching anything else.

I was ready to use a fireball to illuminate my surroundings when a terrible gust of wind forcibly extinguished my meager flame too slow to form.

I instantly used wind magic under my feet to retreat a couple of feet toward the entrance.

There was something dangerous in this cave. As I was looking for a safe place to spend the night, I didn’t have any reason to stay in this cave anymore.

However, just as I was ready to run to the exit, I heard a clear laughter coming from the depth of the cave.

The laughter was bright, just like the laugh of a child. It was horribly out of place in this gloomy cave.

“You’re quite good to use the walk of the wind while being so young. Well, your use of it is so primitive that it’s difficult to call it by this name. If you only have those abilities, then you’re just looking to die by coming here.”

The previous long laughter belonged without a doubt to this clear and young voice whose owner had yet to be seen.

I focused my attention on the direction of the voice, but it was still impossible to discern anything.

Does a human live here?

This question crossed my mind after hearing the voice speaking the language of the Human race.

I didn’t dare to ask for the identity of the person in front of me and simply answered while slowly taking a few steps back toward the entrance of the cave.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you, I thought this place was empty. I’m leaving.”

I continued to retreat, but as I finished my sentence a mysterious force began to slow me down. It was negligible at first, but after a couple of seconds, I clearly felt that it was impossible to take a single step backward anymore.

It was as if someone was pushing my back.

“Now that you’re here, why don’t you stay a little longer? I don’t have many human visitors.”

I felt my heart grow cold after his words. It was as if a glass of cold water was poured on my back.

Before I could answer or react, the ground began to tremble. It wasn’t a massive shaking, but a regular one accompanied by an impressive noise.

Huge footsteps were coming closer.

After a few seconds of anxious waiting, a massive body finally appeared under the glow of the mysterious plants stuck against the wall.

I had to raise my head to observe the towering figure around six feet high. Even if its voice was that of a human, its body wasn’t.

The huge frame was covered by a thick and long green fur with some dark mix in it. Its huge arms were nearly touching the ground and gave it a sloppy feeling. The body in front of me was that of a beast, but the bright green eyes revealed a human-like intelligence intensified by the disturbing smile on its huge dark lips.

This mysterious creature slowly came closer to me. The strong pressure behind my back was still present and prevented me from fleeing.

“Are you surprised to see me?”

The childish voice once more resounded in the cave, but this time the pressure it gave was in another league.

I could only quietly nod without muttering another word.

The appearance of a beast but a human voice… Could it be a beast tribe member?

I didn’t dare to ask this question as I clearly understood the balance of power between us.

After answering, the beast didn’t speak anymore and just watched me closely without making a noise.

“What’s your name child?”

The sudden question surprised me, but I still answered with a respective tone.

“Sillath”

“Why are you here Sillath?”

“I didn’t intend to disturb you, I was just looking for a place to spend the night. If you don’t mind, I will just leave this place immediately.”

“You already told me that earlier. Let me ask you differently. What does a human child is doing in the wilderness on his own?”

“I’m going back home, that’s all. I don’t have any vile intent against you.”

“Of course you don’t. With your abilities, you’re powerless against me. However, Humans are vicious. Maybe you’re just a decoy to distract me.”

The childish voice was getting colder every moment while the pressure behind my back became stronger forcing me to take a few steps toward the creature.

Before I could answer, the creature once more opened its dark lips revealing sharp white teeth to speak.

“This is not the first time Humans come here. Why do you think I can speak your language?”

My face turned pale after its words.

“That’s right, I captured the last group of Humans who came to kill me. I learned everything I could from them including their language before killing them. However, you don’t have anything to teach me, child. That’s a shame, our encounter will only be shorter.”

The pressure coming from the beast suddenly increased. The massive beast opened its ridiculously long arms as if to embrace me.

I tried to raise my hand to shoot a magic at the creature whose hatred for humans was clear. However, the pressure coming from behind me suddenly changed.

Instead of pushing me forward, the pressure crushed me from above preventing me from even raising my arm to use my magic. After a few seconds, I was on my knees, unable to move and with difficulty breathing.

I didn’t have the time to think or be afraid when the pressure crushing me shifted once again.

It was as if a giant kicked me from behind. The huge force sent me flying toward the monster who still had its arms opened to welcome my small body.

Without my feet touching the ground, I couldn’t change my trajectory.

I was only a few feet away from the beast when I activated my wind magic. I couldn’t escape from the pushing force behind me, but I could use it.

I used as much mana as I could to propel myself forward with my own wind magic.

I arrived much faster than expected.

My body was like a bullet when I entered in contact with the beast who still had its arm opened.

*BAM*

I crashed against its torso at full speed.

However, it was as if I crashed into a wall. The creature didn’t even take a single step backward while I powerlessly fell to the ground.

My mind was hazy after the sudden shock. I shook my head and gathered my mana once more, but before I could trigger my magic, I felt two powerful hands catching me and raising me above the ground.

“Water shield”

I use my strongest water magic to escape its grasp, but my magic barely manifested.

“Do you think you will be able to use magic when I directly suppress you? You really don’t know anything human. Now die!”

The pressure of its hand suddenly increased. The strong grip became unbearable.

I couldn’t breathe. I felt my bones crack under the irresistible force. I could only painfully moan and struggle before my vision started to darken.

I couldn’t even fight back.

This was how I met my end.

Powerlessly.

Miserably.

Alone.

Why am I so weak? 

This last question lingered in my fragile consciousness until the very end.

My heart was full of regret as the last bit of my consciousness faded into nothingness.

“What are you?”

The pressure crushing me suddenly disappeared. I barely felt the contact with the floor as I fell on my back.

I had troubles to understand the sudden question with my fading consciousness.

“What are you?!?”

This time the voice was stronger, like a thunderbolt. The massive voice brought my entire consciousness back.

I slowly opened my eyes.

I was alive and still lying near the feet of the giant creature.

I didn’t know why it let me live, but life or death was its choice. I finally understood the fate of the weak in this world.

Your life or death was only in your hand if you had enough power.

If the creature decided to kill me, there was nothing I could do to stop it. However, I still had a chance.

I knew that my answer would determine my fate.

I slowly raised my body and looked straight into the big green eyes of the creature.

The eyes that had constant pride and scorn against me hidden in it were now full of disbelief and interrogations.

“Not a Human!!!”

A long silence followed my sentence.

I didn’t know what this creature was. Was it a lost member of a beast tribe or a deviant who evolved? I had no way to know it, but I knew one thing.

This creature despised humans.

The creature’s eyes gradually overcame the shock of my declaration.

The menacing expression of the beast became gentler and more cautious.

“With a soul like yours, there is no way that you are a human.”

“You can sense my soul?”

“Of course I can. However, for me, it’s only possible if I have a long and direct contact with my own body.”

I finally understood why it suddenly let me go.

It believed that I was a simple human child here to deceive him when he suddenly sensed the abnormal strength of my soul.

“What will you do with me now?”

The situation didn’t change.

I couldn’t fight against him or escape.

I was at his mercy.

“Leave. This cave is my home. I won’t allow anyone else to spend time here. Count yourself lucky for leaving alive. If you were one of those humans…”

The creature didn’t even finish its sentence. I didn’t need to hear the end of it to understand its meaning.

I turned my back and left as fast as I could.

The narrow tunnel seemed to last an eternity before the setting sun finally appeared in my view.

I finally left the cave.

I took a breath of fresh air as if to confirm that I was out.

My heart was still furiously beating in my chest after my near-death experience. I already fought with my life in the balance, but this time it was different.

It wasn’t a fight.

I couldn’t call it that way.

It was an execution.

The sensation of having my life in someone else’s hand was something that I would never forget.

I didn’t want to experience something like that ever again.

My wishes, memories and feelings.

None of that mattered.

Only strength mattered in this world.

The strength to hold your life with your own hands.

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A word from the author: If you read my previous message then you know that I was thinking about ending this story. After much thinking and because of the support and comments you sent me (special mention for Daryun), I chose to continue this story.

I will say it again but I'm only a novice writer who doesn't even speak English fluently. The amount of work I invested in each chapter is quite significant so if you want this story to go on then leave a review to let me know that I'm not just wasting my time.

If you have questions or remarks, you can send me a private message, I will gladly answer it.