Good god, they stink! I thought as ten arrows blew through the lower canopy and stopped the monkeys in their tracks. I hopped from a branch and swung my light sword at the closest monkey and lopped its arm off. It screeched and put a clawed hand on the stump of the shoulder, so I bounced from the tree branch, swung my foot around, and gave it a kick right in the face. My boots had reinforced thick metal soles and my foot made a nice crunching 'splat' sound and crushed its face. The body fell and tumbled down through the leaves and branches.

One down, twenty-three to go. I thought with a smile and made six Presence Hands, then grabbed the monkeys by their ankles. Every single one of them snapped and the monkeys howled in pain and frustration. I let them go and two of them fell, and the others I gave a push. They fell as well and disappeared from sight. Having some of their number taken out in mere seconds gave the others pause, which was just long enough for me to take advantage of their hesitation.

I formed two Mana Presence Walls around them and moved them together. A bunch of them jumped out of the way and one missed the branch it was aiming for. It tumbled down and hit another branch, flipped over, and floated out into a spot where it was too far away from other branches to grab them.

“Buh-bye!” I said to it and pushed the two Presence walls together and the monkeys that hadn't escaped were held in place. I held up my mother's Light sword and grinned.

“Open wide!” I said and threw the sword like a Frisbee. I used Presence to increase the spin and to keep it aloft, so it flew down the improvised aisle and decapitated all seven of them. I absorbed the walls and brought the sword back to myself. I liked that move a lot. Unfortunately, the rickchaws didn't like it at all. Not one bit.

“ROWRRRRAAAALLLLL! HOOO! HOOO!” One of them cried. I felt mana flow out from them and the others glowed slightly.

“Oh, shit!” I said and used my Presence Hands to draw out six arrows and threw them as hard and as fast as I could at the remaining monkeys.

*

Sylvana and the guards could hear the fight and didn't know where they could safely shoot, now that the rickchaws had stopped moving forward.

“Something fell!” One of the guards said and they all looked to see a hairy limb bounce off several branches and then land on the ground nearby. “It's an arm!”

“It's not Hunter's, is it?” One of them asked, and the other's laughed.

“I hope not!” One of them said. “Even I can't overlook it if he has that much hair under his clothes!”

A moment later, the creature's body flopped down to make a sickening crunch sound. They all stared at it and saw its caved-in face.

“Is... that a boot print?” The closest woman to the body asked.

“Incoming!” One exclaimed and they all looked up to see two more monkeys falling. They moved back a little and the creatures hit the ground with crunches and spurts of blood. Unlike the first one, these two were still alive when they hit the ground.

“Targets.” The captain said and two arrows slammed into the twitching monkey's eyes. At such a close range, even their worst archer could hit them in the eyes.

“More!” Someone said and they fell back to watch four more flailing monkeys.

“What is he doing up there?” Sylvana asked.

“Targets!” The captain said and the four monkeys had arrows embedded into their skulls. “Whatever he's doing, he's cut their numbers by a third already!”

“Make that by two thirds!” One of the guards said as seven heads tumbled through the air and thumped into the ground.

“ROWRRRRAAAALLLLL! HOOO! HOOO!” Broke the relative silence of the forest.

“It's a death knell!” The captain exclaimed. “Retreat!”

The group of guards pulled back from the forest edge and gathered in the center of the little clearing.

“What's that?” Someone pointed, and they all looked up to see Hunter break through the lower canopy and plummet towards the ground.

“NOO! He's falling!” The one that had boosted his horse said loudly. “Someone! Do something!”

They all stood there and didn't know what to do. Their hearts withered, because they fully expected him to hit the ground with a sickening crunch, just like the rickchaws had.

*

They look really worried. I thought as I dropped towards the ground, then I activated my levitation technique and caught myself a foot from the ground and landed as soft as a feather. “It's all right. I had to retreat when I ran out of arrows.”

No less than six quivers were handed towards me and I chuckled.

“Thanks.” I said and used Presence Hands to grab half a dozen arrows and threw them up into the trees. I did this again and again, and six more armored monkeys fell to their deaths. “Four left, including the big guy.”

“Big guy?” Sylvana asked.

“He's about a foot taller and has more armor.” I said. “Look.”

The remaining four monkeys were sliding down the trunks of the nearby trees.

“What I wouldn't give for a laser rifle right now.” I whispered and threw more arrows. Six arrows from the guards joined mine and we skewered one of the normal rickchaws and stuck it to the tree. It hung there comically and we shifted fire to the next one. The big guy saw our selective fire and changed direction, hit the edge of a branch, then converted his downward momentum into angular momentum and leapt across the distance to attack us from above. He was going to hurt himself by falling so far; but, he was also going to hurt a lot of us, too.

“Keep firing on the others.” I said and absorbed all my Presence Hands and made a large Mana Presence Hand just as the five foot tall armored monkey was barely ten feet away from us. I used it to punch the creature across the face as hard as I could. Its head snapped to the side from the massive impact and that was just enough to distract it and the glowing green hand gained its attention. The creature turned to the side in mid-air and its mana imbued claws tried to slash at the hand that had hurt it.

With it twisted away, I formed a vertical Mana Presence Wall in front of us and the creature smacked right into it, head first. I jerked from the impact, as if it had actually hit me, then we all heard the loud snap as its neck broke. The creature fell to the ground and was unable to keep fighting. I didn't feel any magical wounds, so I absorbed both the Mana Presence Hand and the vertical wall, then I stepped over the creature that was still alive.

“Hey, is rickchaw meat poisonous?” I asked and Sylvana looked at me like I was insane. “Just kidding.” I chuckled and jabbed my mother's Light sword into the creature's eye, swirled it around, and pulled it out. I looked over at the remaining creature and saw that it had become a pin cushion as well. “Good job, everyone.”

All of the guards nodded for a second, then they realized it had been me that spoke. No one said anything and they all looked to their captain for what to do.

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“I guess that means I need to leave the praise for your captain to spread around.” I said and picked up the large rickchaw and shoved it into the bag of holding I was using for creatures.

Everyone stood there and watched me with wide eyes as I stored all the bodies and the severed heads. I even took the first creature's arm that I had severed. When I had gathered everything, I turned off my powered armor and its weight returned.

“I doubt I'll get a bounty for them, since they are probably only here inside the elf lands.” I said and walked over to the group of horses and pat mine. “Good boy! You stayed in front!”

The horse neighed at me and I pat it again.

“I think I still have something... hold on.” I took off my glove and dug hand into my original bag of holding for about ten seconds, then I felt it. “Ah! Here it is.” I said and took out one of the crystallized peach apple halves with cream in the center. The horse almost jumped with excitement when it saw the thing. “Watch my fingers, now.”

The horse gave it a perfunctory sniff as I held it in the palm of my flat hand, then the horse licked it right off of my hand and started to chew on it.

I laughed and wiped my hand on my pants. “I should have just tossed it to you.”

The horse ignored me, now that it was too busy to care.

“Do you think we should stay for an extra ten minutes to let everyone relax after that encounter?” Sylvana asked the captain.

“No. We should go before any more of them show up.” The captain said. “Everyone, mount up!”

They all followed her order without comment, as did I, and we all climbed onto the horses and started to ride. The guards boosted their horses and resumed their rotating pattern, except that this time, each one that got to ride beside me, gave me a considerable 'come here' glare. I ignored them of course, since I was keeping things professional. What I hadn't realized at the time was that I made them want me more. By showing my competence, my cool head in a fight, and some of my fighting abilities, even the doubtful ones were considerably impressed with me.

We made it through the next city, and its streets were also clear for us to ride through them. This time, there was a considerable amount of people around to watch us ride by. When we passed the center, I felt a strong urge to go back and visit. Since it was close to where I was going, I knew I would have to go back and check it out. Hopefully, it wouldn't be a trap. The last thing I needed was to be caught and kept prisoner.

That made me think about the last time I had willingly let myself become a prisoner and met that brightly glowing Presence. I spent a week there and did my best to master Presence Lightning. I was also quite happy to be alone and to have a break from everyone.

Look how far I've come since then. I thought with a laugh. I can't sleep if I'm alone in the bed!

Sylvana looked over at me with a question on her face.

“I'd tell you what's so funny; but, you wouldn't believe me.” I said loud enough for her to hear.

“Try me.” Sylvana said, and that made me laugh again. “What is it?!?” She asked in a huff.

“I used to enjoy being alone and away from everyone. Then I became used to having a woman in my bed to cuddle with every night. Last night I couldn't sleep because I was alone.”

“W-w-why was that funny?” Sylvana asked, her face flushed red.

“I was laughing at how much I've changed, then I laughed again when you told me to 'try you'.” I said with a grin. “I thought that was pretty funny.”

Complete silence fell across her and the guards. All that could be heard was the horses as they breathed and their hooves as they hit the dirt of the road. I glanced at the guard that rode next to me and instead of the 'come here' look she used to have, it was a 'why not me' look.

“No availability and no opportunity.” I said to her, as if she asked a question, and her face changed to have no expression. Well, that's better than anger, at least. I thought and glanced at Sylvana, who was visibly angry. Yeah, like that.

We rode on and reached the right city, so we slowed down and turned into what I thought was the main Protection tree of the city. It had a grown stable for the horses, who were just coming down from their third speed boost and mine was coming down from its first. We all dismounted and put the horses into stalls, removed their equipment to give them a rest from wearing it, then Sylvana reluctantly waved to me to follow her.

The captain of the guard gave the other guards commands and they spread out to surround us as we walked. I didn't think it was necessary, since everyone was keeping back and stared at us.

I looked at the gathered women's faces and had to correct my thought. They are staring at me.

“The address is near the edge of the city.” Sylvana said and pointed where we needed to go.

I followed her and the captain of the guard and the guards did the same rotating positions on foot as they did with the horses. Okay, that's neat. I thought and kept walking. It took us about twenty minutes to get to the right street and Sylvana pointed to an empty lot a few tree-houses away.

“You see? It's empty.” Sylvana said. “I don't know why you wanted to come here to see it.”

“Watch.” I said and looked at the captain. “Captain, I need a clear path.”

She looked at me like she thought I was humoring her.

“Orders roll downhill, right?” I asked, and she nodded.

“Honor Guard.” The captain said and two of the guards stopped behind the princess and I, while the other six formed two lines of three women each in front of us. “After you.” She said and motioned for me to go through.

“Thank you.” I said and walked between the two lines and stopped just past the end of the line and was right in front of the property. I took a deep breath and stepped forward, lifted my hand to where I thought a door would be on a tree-house if it was there in the empty lot, and knocked. Sylvana, the captain, and all of the guards were completely shocked when my knuckles rapped on solid wood. A moment later, there was the sound of a latch being pulled, then the invisible door opened inwards.

“It's about time you got here.” A little old lady said in a cranky voice. “I can't believe you ignored my advice that they would kill you if you came through the barrier.”

I gave her a big smile. “Believe me, I'll give your words the importance they deserve in the future.”

“You better.” The old lady said and leaned her head out. “Princess Sylvana, you should go and make yourself comfortable in the elder council chamber. We're going to be a while.”

“Do I know you?” Sylvana asked and completely ignored the invisible house.

“Not personally.” The old lady said. “Make sure you tell the council about the rickchaws.”

Sylvana's mouth dropped open for a moment, then she nodded.

“Well?” The old lady glared up at me and I saw that she was barely five feet tall. “Get inside!”

“Yes, Ma'am.” I said and gave a little wave to the guards. Three of them waved back, so I turned and stepped by the old lady and she shut the door.

*

“What kind of spell is that?” Sylvana asked and started to walk away.

“We can ask the city elders.” The captain said, and the guards formed around them.

“Are we really going to leave him here and unguarded?” One of the women asked.

“Guard what? An empty lot?” The captain said with a smile. “Even Hunter couldn't see the thing.”

That made them all go quiet and they walked back to where they had stored the horses under the city's Protection tree, then they went inside and up to the proper space. Two guards were there and Sylvana bowed slightly and requested entrance. The doors opened and only four of the five elders came out.

“What happened?” Sylvana asked, concern in her voice.

“Our fifth claimed that she was getting too old and decided to retire.” One of the slightly grey-haired women said. “We are in the process of selecting a new member for the elder council.”

That's who she is! Sylvana thought. She's an elder!

“We have a feeling that you have something to share with us?” One of them asked.

Sylvana nodded. “We encountered a troubling thing on the way here...”

*

“So.” The old lady said and waved to a chair. “Hunter.”

I sat down and she gave me a long and critical look. I returned the look and saw that she wore a simple cloth dress. It was beige in color and was slightly form-fitting, and I could tell that it hugged her slender hips just enough to show that despite being older than a lot of the elves I had seen so far, her body seemed to be both fit and trim.

“You know why you are here.” The old lady said, and I shook my head. “What? You don't?”

“No.” I said. “I was told you could help me with my class, and I discovered by other means that my class is incomplete.”

“Yes.” The old lady said. “And?”

“I don't know how you can help me with my class until I complete it first.” I said. “Is that what you meant? You would help me fix what is wrong with me?”

The old lady turned away and took several breaths. “What if I told you that there was nothing wrong with you?”

I felt the Presence waver a minuscule amount. “I would know you are playing on the meaning of 'you' and that something has actually happened to me; but, perhaps not the physical me.”

The old lady turned around and looked at me with eyes that burned green. “You understood what I meant?”

I nodded. “My 'mana' body is weak, or incomplete, or vulnerable for some reason.” I said. “I think it happened when I was first brought here. I was unconscious at the time, so I don't know what actually happened. I do know that I came here through a teleportation spell, though.”

The old lady waved a hand to dismiss my concerns. “Let me just...” She stepped close and hesitated with her hands near my face. “This may hurt.”

“I better remove my disguise, then.” I said and took off the blast shield and one of the hair ties to let my hair fall down to its full length, then I took off my armored gloves and stored them. “Should I remove my armor, too?”

“Just the coat.” The old lady said, then she smiled. “Even I will get excited if you take off your pants.”

That made me laugh and I slipped the coat off and used a Presence Hand to float it to another chair. I could see that the old lady was nervous about causing me undue pain, so I reached out and put my hands around her wrists. I formed a connection with her and let her feel my mana and Presence.

“You really want my help, don't you?” The old lady asked, surprised.

“I would like nothing more, ma'am.” I said, closed my eyes, and pulled her hands onto my face. It felt like a knife carved a huge chunk out of my brain, and I managed to not scream out loud.

Then everything went black.