BOOK 1, CHAPTER 12.2 – First Kill

Artien lay on the rocky cave floor for a while. The heat in his body had returned to normal. He turned to meditation to refresh himself before attempting to get to his feet. He turned onto his side, groaning. Little Green slid off his chest to the floor.

“You still don’t know?” She asked.

“I’m okay now.”

Outside the cave he could hear the quivering of the black-quilled wolves. They snapped and snarled, furious their enemy had escaped. Their eyes glared into the darkness of the cave entrance. The paced back and forth, having no intention of leaving.

“How long do you think they’ll stay there?” He asked.

“The stupid dogs? Until they get too hungry.”

“They won’t come in?”

“No. They know who lives here. They would be a snack for mother.”

He stretched and rose to his feet, Little Green moving to her place on his arm. Since they were unable to leave, they retreated back into the cave. After a few minutes, they arrived at the small cave area Seora guarded. She moved aside, letting them pass. She tasted the air.

“You fought the wolves so soon?” Seora said, sounding slightly surprised.

Little Green went to her mother’s side as Artien took his sitting place against the far cave wall.

“Mother,” Little Green hissed, “They are blocking us from outside!”

“They are a pack. They avenge their fallen. Of course they won’t let you go. “ Seora tilted her head and eyed Artien’s stained clothes. “You still did them damage?”

Artien relaxed his head back against the wall with eyes closed, remembering the fight. “Just one. It was strong and nimble. Very hard to kill it.” He recalled the killing blow, feeling bile rise as his throat constricted.

Seroa tasted the air, finding his discomfort. “The first few killings will disgust. Tell me, how did it go?”

Artien sighed and recounted the whole outing. Little Green added here and there her parts. It was a good while later before he finished. Once he was done, he sighed again, feeling extremely tired. Little Green sensed this through their connection and curled up in his lap.

Seora pondered over the entire tale, watching the two sleep. As she thought, more and more she realized the boy was special. Something about him. What exactly was it?

Her head raised towards the high ceiling as the ground trembled and the black-quilled wolves howled. She felt the quaking of the earth around her as loud explosions sounded off overhead. A lone howl sounded, followed by more explosions. Then, shortly after, all was silent.

She turned to see both children awake and quietly watching her. She tasted the air, then chuckled.

Artien sat up. “That was?”

“The white ape. He grows restless. It seems he and the wolves have fought.” Seora answered. “He regains his strength while I lose my own. Time is against us.”

“What should we do?” Little Green asked. “I’m not strong enough to fight him yet.”

“Hss-ss-ss. Little Green, daughter. You will not fight him. It will be many years before you can take on that monkey.”

“Then what are we going to do?” A hint of worry sounded in Little Green’s voice.

“You both will flee. I will hold him back.”

“I can’t leave you!”

“You will leave. That is without question. Do you both understand?”

Little Green and Artien nodded.

Satisfied, Seora changed the topic. “Little Green, you will go hunt alone. Become proficient against different beasts. Be silent, and cautious. Use your venom only when you must. Do not leave any magic stones.”

Little Green nodded and left, immediately going out.

“Isn’t the monkey outside?” Artien asked, worried.

“The fight with the wolves will have tired him. His injury will take more time to heal fully to dare move against me or come too close to my nest.” Seora eyed him closely. “Worry of that later. We must deal with you first.”

“Deal?” Artien gulped, not liking the sound of it.

“Yes. As many gifts as you have, you are squandering them.” She chided. “Under my teachings, you will be better prepared. Let us start with that wound of yours. Why is it not healed? Do you want your arm to rot off?”

Artien rolled up his sleeve, showing red and torn flesh. He grimaced, seeing bone. “It’s deep, so it’s taking some time.”

“How are you healing it?”

“By cycling my mana through it.”

Seora hissed angrily. “Wasteful! Absolutely wasteful! Relying on that method, your arm might fully heal in nine months.”

“Is there a better way? Do you know a healing spell?” Excitement bubbled up. Spells!

“No. No spells. Can you focus on both healing and fighting during a battle?” Seora puffed out air at his silence. “Of course not. Your proficiency in using mana is what is lacking. I will fix that. Sit properly.”

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Artien straightened his back and crossed his legs, laying his arms in his lap. “Next?”

“Close your eyes and start your meditation. Find your mana source. Now cycle it through your body.”

Artien closed his eyes and followed her instructions. Soon, his mind flowed along with his mana through his body.

“Good. Keep that up. Focus more on your wound. See how mana enters, but does not exit. Where does it go?”

Artien scowled, following the mana. It flowed into the wound, exiting out the openings in his flesh. It entered the outside air and dissipated. “It’s escaping.”

“Yes. Pull it over the wound. Do not lose it. Let it cover the wound like a new skin.”

He focused, pulling at the escaping mana. He first pushed it to the very edges of the torn flesh. He held it back, just enough not to escape. The wound was large. Covering it all in his focus was near impossible. A few times the mana escaped his grasp, slipping out into the air.

“Focus! If you cannot do this much, you will die.” Seora warned.

She continued to give him pointers. After a long while, Little Green returned with a dead bird and left again. He continued to manipulate and control the mana until none escaped his grasp. Though he had gained some control, he was unable to form mana over the wound.

Seora whipped the air with her tongue, tasting his frustration. “Forget your feelings. Forget your surroundings. Feel only the mana and your flesh.” Surprisingly, she saw mana gather solidly in his entire arm. “Feel it flow through your skin and continue.” Across the edge of the wounds a soft shimmer warped the air as mana stretched slowly across.

After a few moments, the strands of mana met the other end of the wound openings and clasped tightly. The healthy skin turned pink, following the mana to slowly regrow new skin. All wounds closed slowly. Liquid started dotting Artien’s face as he focused.

“Now that the skin is formed, find the vessels that carry your blood. Make the ends call to each other. They will respond.”

Artien moved his attention from the skin down to inside the wounds. He found where blood pooled, pouring out of tiny veins. They were small and numerous, requiring even more work than the skin had. He built mana up at each end of the same vein and stretched it out until it connected and created new flesh, sealing the gap.

The many veins took time, allowing Little Green to pile up corpses with missing beast cores nearby. As he meticulously healed the veins, Little Green’s strength skyrocketed. The many dead beast birds became black-quilled wolves.

Seora scanned him periodically. His efficiency at mana control became finer with each use. He became accustomed over time and practice. He went so far as to do the rest of his flesh. Muscles and tendons regrew. When the arm was hale and healthy, he slowly retracted the mana back to the source and opened his eyes.

“That is how you heal.” Seora said approvingly. “As you better your manipulation of mana. You will be able to stop bleeding during battle and heal multiple wounds at once. For now, it is enough.”

“I’m starving.”

Artien looked for Little Green, seeing the mountain of corpses. A flash of green and a new corpse was added the pile. Another flash of green and Little Green was in his lap, looking up at him. What used to fill just a small portion of his lap now hung over the sides. “Little Green?”

“Hss-ss-ss. Yes?”

“How did you get so big?”

“Hunting and consuming beast cores. It makes mine stronger!”

“Really?” He asked. Thinking back, he had his own core. Maybe he too…

“Not right now.” Seora said, reading his mind. “Your force still needs some work. However, if you can manipulate spells in a highly successful rate, then handling and controlling your Force quickly is possible.”

“It’s the same method as mana control?”

“From my understanding. Little Green, take him to the treasury and have him some spells books. There are a few from past humans.”

“Follow me!” Little Green led the way. This time, she stayed on the ground, too large to fit around his arm as easily as before.

They entered the treasury cave. They went around the pile to the items left behind. Here were stacks of books of varying sizes and colors. Little Green stopped at the pile.

“Can I leave you here? I want to go hunting again.”

“Sure. Bring something fresh so we can eat.”

“Alright!” With a flash, Little Green was gone.

Artien eyed the mountain of books before him. He pulled a bunch of the books aside, stacking them according to their titles and subjects. An hour later, he had three piles. One pile of random information regarding the world in general. One pile of Force-oriented books, martial skills, and battle tactics. Finally, one pile of magic information and spells.

He sat in front of the magic book pile and skimmed through until he found some basic spells. Opening it up, he flipped through the introduction and notes to the first image of a circle of flames.

Thankfully, the information written was simple and easy to understand.

“Cycle my mana to my palm and say the chant while thinking of the image of a ball of flame?”

He followed the steps, feeling his hand full of mana. He imagined a small flame just above his palm. “Flame, everlasting warmth, by the nature of the sun, appear!”

Immediately he felt the mana leave his hand and gather above it, changing and condensing into a flicker of a flame.

It drew on the mana from his hand, growing bigger. It grew in size quickly. The heat radiated onto his skin and started to burn. He hurriedly cut the mana source off and the flame shrunk and went out. He shook his hand.

“Can’t hold onto it. Can’t keep feeding it. Still, that was rather easy.”

He tried again, this time feeding the flame slower and further above his hand. He cut the mana off when it was of good size and the flame slowly shrunk and vanished.

“Depending on the amount of mana, the slower it dissipates.”

This time, he tried infusing mana and let it grow into a large size a meter across. His mana drained rapidly as the flame consumed it to fuel it’s growth. He felt his control on the spell tremble. With a thought, he swung his hand and the image of the flame towards the mountain of treasure. Heat ruptured and fire blew a hole into the treasure. Coins and jewels rained down on his head as he ducked for cover.

A green blur and Little Green appeared next to him. “You okay? What was that?”

“Um, a fire spell.” He looked up at the mess he’d made.

“I think you should go hunting with me and try that stuff outside.”

“Let’s eat first. Did you get something?”

“Bird!”

Little Green raced back to the cave. When Artien arrived, the mountain of beasts were gone. A lone bird lay still. It was already plucked and dressed, only needing to be cooked. After thinking a moment, he turned to Little Green.

“Want to eat cooked meat?”

“I don’t mind.”

He reached towards the bird, chanting the spell and small flame appeared above his hand. He held it out to the bird, holding back on the flow of mana available to the flame. This continuously fed the fire while keeping it under control. After a few minutes, he flipped the bird over and cooked the other side.

Little Green peered at the meat, her tongue tasting the air. “I want half.”

He withdrew the flame and split the meat. He sat back, enjoying truly cooked meat after a long time. Little Green tested the meat, then gobbled it whole. She hissed low, a feeling of enjoyment transferring across their connection. He smiled, knowing how she felt.

Just as he finished his meal, Seora turned to him. “Go out hunting. While you were healing and reading the night has passed. Waste no time here.”

Artien nodded and both him and Little Green left the cave. Little Green turned to him. “Want to hunt something bigger than a wolf?”

“Sure.”

“Follow me again!” She quickly, and quietly, trailed through the forest off to the left of the cave. They went down hill towards less trees and more dry ground with little brush. They stopped atop a small hill behind a large boulder, looking down at a beast with large size and dangerous coloring.

“What is that?”

“That’s a scorpion-tailed red lizard. Let’s go!” Little Green raced towards the target.

“Wait!” Artien helplessly followed behind. “What about this is quiet and with caution?” He muttered.