Light is something that many people take for granted, sure it is useful to see and allows plants to grow nice and strong. But there is another factor which many people seem to always ignore: light is a confirmation of being alive.

“Ughhhhh,” Arjun groans aloud, his eyes blinking quickly as he awakens from a short but deep slumber.

Annoyed is probably a very good word to describe his awakening. Not because of the pain on the side of his body, nor the extremely tight wrappings around his waist...but the fact that the sun is perfectly overhead, it's light passing through a convenient hole in the leaves and branches above, striking his face.

Blinking quickly, he attempts to open his eyes again and turn his head, the light giving him quite a headache. With determination, he moves his head away from the ray of light, finding the same group of people who had saved his life, completely ignorant of his awakening, or even his current plight.

With newfound energy and a lack of imminent threat, he finally takes a good look at the people who came to his rescue.

The first thing he notices is his daughter, sitting with a tiger-kin girl… staring into a metal tablet of some kind; possibly a magical object?

Smiling at his daughter and her bewildered and focused expression, he next turns towards the sole woman of the group.

The Amazonian trains adamantly on the ground, her sword spinning and cleaving the air with amazing speed and precision; as would be expected of a race feared by all.

Finally he turns his head towards the last two individuals. The Radonian with the enchanted ice weapon and the...Forsaken?

Interesting! I have not met a Xerafin in quite some time. I don't remember seeing him in the battle.

Arjun stops his train of though, his mind thinking to the battle before he passed out, remembering the black armored figure on the hill.

Could that have been him? And that weapon, such a fearful amount of power!

The explosions, fire, and the screams of the dying monster was something Arjun will never forget.

Having finished his mental assessment, Arjun slowly forces his body into a sitting position, biting his lip from the spike in pain. Firmly placing his legs on the ground, he slowly stands up, immediately finding a new set of clothes neatly folded on the side of his...bed?

Why is there a bed here in the middle of the forest? Oh my, the quality of the sheets are superb. I wonder if the clothes feel this nice too.

Picking up the clothes, he marvels at the amazing feeling of the well crafted clothing and design; who are these people?

Slowly he puts on the clothing, making sure that he does not reopen his wound. Once done and quite happy with the feeling of the clothes on his skin, though he would rather have some leather armor to go with it.

Nodding one more at the feel of the clothing, Arjun heads towards the two standing men by the fire, finally noticing what they are doing...including what they are bickering about.

__

“What was the reason again for wanting to cook an entire monster?” Gang asks as he stares towards a massive fire extending up to 5 meters in length. Two logs dot each side while a absurdly long metal pole connects between them.

On the pole is the dead Bhargese, its skin is completely gone, allowing its massive dense muscles to be clearly seen.

“I am curious on what it would taste like. What's the point of killing something as dangerous and as strong if we aren't even going to eat it?” Valen asks as he uses a stick to poke the meat, eliciting a sizzling sound as a bit of fat drips into the fire.

“I am not against eating it, I just think that maybe we should have just ripped a leg off and cooked that instead of a thousand pounds of meat.” Gangs answers exasperatedly.

With a roll of his eyes, Valen turns his head towards Gang, ”Gang, I asked if you ever cooked an animal, and you said no. I also asked Diva and she told me something about Amazon's and their tendency to slaughter everything on their island...which I think means they caused an extinction.”

*Sigh* “Valen, I never said that I did not know how to cook. I merely said said that I never did.”

*Silence*

“So wait… why did you help me prepare the monster then? It literally took us hours just to skin the damn thing!” Valen yells out, remembering how hard the dam monsters skin was to even remove… thank god he saved the pelt, it may be useful later.

Gang puts his hand on his head, the onset of a headache kicking in.” I was under the impression you wanted to transport it and sell the meat...not eat it.”

As the two bikker, an older elf slowly walks towards them.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I must voice my concern about the safety of the camp and the lack of vigilance.” a man quickly speaks up behind the two arguing individuals.

Turning quickly around, Valen and Gang notice the light elf as he stands firm on the ground, a relaxed smile on his face, hand rubbing the black shirt Valen had provided.

“ It is rather… pitiful that such powerful individuals like yourselves can be so easily snuck up on.” Arjun moves his hand towards the two kids sitting at a table, watching something on Valens tablet “ The children are so enthralled with that… piece of metal that they do not even notice the insects landing on their bodies.”

Valen looks towards the girls, a fistlile spider is precariously placed on Lin's head.

Then he points towards Diva who seems to grunt and jump, swinging her sword with great strength, ”The Amazonian seems to be in her own world right now, completely ignoring everything around her.”

Valen looks to diva, remembering how upset she was for not being able to kill the monster herself.

“And then there's you two, more focused on cooking a… Bhargeast… why are you cooking an A rank monster? Don't you know their meat can be used to make extremely potent potions?”

Gang and Valen stare at the old elf, his blabbering and relaxed gait completely surprising the two.

Arjun notices the confused looks he is gettimg, ”Ah, apologies, I have not introduced myself.” With a practised smile, the elf does a slight bow,” I am known as Arjun Arasan, professional enchanter, Graduate of Gargantuan University, and father of Aisha.”

Gang quickly returns the bow in practised ease,” I am known as Gang Shui.”

Not wanting to be left out, Valen introduces himself… far less gracefully.

“I'm Valen,” he answers with a wave,” I'm sorry for not giving you a health potion,” he quickly exclaims, noticing the elf as he rubs his side,” but Gang here was adamant I don't give it to you.” Valen says as he points to the Radonian.

Not missing a beat, the elf answers with a smile

“And for good reason. I was in an extremely sorry state. Mana exhausted, injured, low on blood,” he shakes his head. “That health potion would have killed me in that state. It would have forced my heart to beat faster and transfer what little Mana I had towards my injury. Unfortunately Mana transfer happens primarily through blood circulation, thus I fear I would have bled first before the onset of other problems like Mana retardation sets in.”

*Silence* Valen and Gang stare awkwardly at the elf.

“Oh! My apologies. I have a tendency to ramble on. Do feel free to interrupt me; my friends, colleagues, and...wife… tell me I occasionally talk too much.” He explains, a sad smile donning his face as he mentions his wife.

“ So...do you need a health potion now?” Valen asks, trying to change the somber mood of the elf.

Perking up, Arjun quickly waves his hand, “No, no, I would never ask someone for a regeneration potion for such a small wound. I am currently transferring Mana towards the wound on my side, instigating regeneration on that spot. A rather good technique might I add. Apparently it was first developed by an elf who studied trolls and their ability to regenerate exceptionally fast. Granted, this form of healing isn't nearly as fast as those of the trolls, but a wound which would take a month to fully heal will instead take only a few days. Of course there are better techniques which are guarded by Kings, nobles and the like. I remember this warrior who w-”

“Ahem,” Valen quickly clears his throat, interrupting the elf.

“I see, I did it again, apologies.” He says, scratching his ear, attempting to hide a blush with his hand.

“ Arjun, sorry to ask this, but what exactly happened. That...Bhargese was it? Is clearly a very dangerous predator.” Gang starts, trying to phrase his question correctly, “I find it hard to believe that you were able to survive for so long against such a creature.”

“ Ahhh, now that is a very interesting question and you are very much correct to ask. The Bhargese,” he points towards the cooking meat,” is an extremely durable and intelligent monster. It would have been considered a S rank beast if it did not have such a fatal flaw. The monsters flaw is that it is extremely susceptible to fire, so much so that it fears even the smallest of flame.”

“So it was just afraid of fire? Seems rather far fetched if you ask me,” Valen voices from Gangs side, remembering the speed and strength of the beast.

“Correct, many predators would ignore the risk of fire to attempt to kill prey. So your skepticism is warranted.” he nods towards Valen

“Now a Bhargese is powerful and dangerous because of its ability to harden the hairs on its body to unprecedented levels, making many mundane weapons or even enchanted ones completely useless against the monster. But the moment the hairs on its body become heated, the contained mana reacts violently, setting the monsters fur aflame.”

Without a warning, a ball of fire burst into being in front of Arjun; Gang and Valen quickly jump back in surprise.

“Sorry about that,” Arjun replies with a wave of his hand,” I forget that most mages are not graduates of Gargantuan, so the usage of mana without various hand or body movements can be very foreign.”

“Anyways, what was I talking about?” He asks the bewildered Gang and Valen, the ball of fire continues to float in the air casually.

Trying to remember what he was talking about, Arjun notices the ball of fire...the same one he is subconsciously maintaining.” Ahhhh yes, fire and the Bhargese,” he quickly exclaims remembering what point he was about to make.

Galen and Gang just look at each other, then back to the crazy elf.

Not even noticing the confused expressions of his audience, Arjun continues his explanation.” When I first found the Bhargese in the jungle, I immediately reacted and threw a fireball at the monster.” The fireball in the air bursts out of existence, Gang and Valen jump slightly at the unexpected display of light and sound.”

“To be honest, I thought it was a soldier, but alas, my night vision is terrible what with being a light elf. Anyhow, the flame struck the monster and singed it's fur, not actually setting it aflame considering the monster did not see me as a threat yet, thus it did not enhance it's fur. I panicked after that and quickly ran… which reopened my arrow wound again. From then on I would constantly run away from the monster, occasionally throwing a ball of flame at the Bhargese, which only seemed to enrage it.” He stops talking, hand over his chin, deep in thought.

Blank expressions continue to stare at the elf as he lives in his own mind.

“Now that I think about it, I believe the monster was actually playing with me. It probably knew I wasn't a threat, but kept its distance for the thrill.” he says aloud, thinking thoughtfully.

His eyes widen in realization,” the only reason I am alive right now is because the Bhargese was playing with its food...that is a rather disturbing thought.”

Before Arjun can continue his vocal monologue, his leg is tackled by a small girl.

“Scatterbrain!” Aisha yells as she looks up towards her father, hands clasped around his leg.

“Aisha!” Arjun exclaims aloud, bending down and picking up his little girl, ignoring the sharp pain on his side.” So you finally realised your father was awake eh!” He says loudly, smiling at his daughter.

“Scatterbrain?” Valen asks, trying to hide a smile on his face.

Blushing immediately, he positions Aisha so that her head blocks Valens vision.” My wife… gave me a nickname when we got married. Eventually, the whole village we lived in would use it instead of my actual name.”

“Daddy, I want to be a Pokemon trainer!” Aisha tells her father, knowing how long his explanations can take.

“Ughhh,” Gang groans, his head turning towards Valen.

Blinking rapidly, Valen puts a hand on his neck, trying his best not to look at Gang’s hardened gaze.

Wrinkling his forehead, Arjun looks to his daughter.” What's a Pokemon trainer?”

Valen quickly turns around and picks up a stick, walking back to the cooking meat, trying his best to ignore Gang.

“It is someone who captures monsters with balls, trains them, and then uses them for battle,” she exclaims excitedly at her father.

“Interesting...so a monster tamer.” Arjun exclaims with a smile, nodding at his daughters interest.

” Do you know which monster you would prefer to acquire? How about a shiversnake, those are quite deadly and very loyal. Or maybe you would prefer something that can fly. I hear griffins are very intelligent and majestic. Have you given it much thought yet?” He asks his daughter.

Thinking slowly, Aisha puts her hand on her lip, eyes twinkling in concentration.” I'm not sure...I know Lin tried to capture that monster which tried to kill you, but it didn't work.”

Thinking about his brush with death, Arjun remembers the rolling red and white ball.” Ahhh yes, I remember now. I was too exhausted at the time to sense any mana, but it seems that the ball’s enchantments malfunctioned.” Arjun exclaims knowingly, his experience as an enchanter speaking volumes in his assessment.

Figuring that it would be to his benefit to check the balls enchantments, he looks away from his daughter, finding Valen laughing hysterically on his knees, Gang glaring daggers at the man’s back.

“Aisha!” Lin yells from the table, waving her hand in the air.

Tapping her father's arm, ”I have to go watch another episode,” she exclaims to her father, wanting to be put down.

Nodding confusingly at the weird term, Arjun places his daughter on the ground, where she immediately bolts towards Lin.

After watching his daughter run off, he turns towards Gang, eyes asking if Valen is ok.

*Sigh* “Don't mind him, he’s just an idiot,” Gang answers exasperatedly.” If you don't mind me asking, how did you get an arrow wound?” He asks, staring at the elfs side, the same one he and Valen had to bandage.

Squinting sadly, he looks towards the laughing Valen...then his eyes turn towards the cooking meat, reminding him that he has not eaten in quite a while. ”It is a long story, I don't suppose I could tell it over food?”

Gang slowly nods, not fully trusting the old elf… unlike a certain someone.