Chapter Three: To Catch a Tiger by the Tail

After weaving his way through the woods, Larson finally came upon his favorite spot. Before him, a small meadow spread out in a near perfect circle. On the far end of the clearing, a collection of boulders dotted the field. After scanning his surroundings, he darted over to the stones and jumped from one to another until he was perched on the tallest of the bunch.

“Life-like platforming.” He chuckled to himself before he sat down and surveyed the environment again. Seeing that the coast was clear he flopped on to his back and gazed at the sky. He had spent last month ransacking the church library, and he’d learned a lot. There was a treasure trove of old magic tomes and research notes. It wasn’t until he peppered old man Hasson with questions that he learned most of the tomes were simply his private collection.

According to Hasson, if one excluded his collection, all the church would have left were nothing but a few basic light spells and an outdated map. However, the star struck look, Larson, had while surrounded by the large assortment quickly faded. He couldn’t learn them. As soon as he picked up a wind element spellbook, an error message had appeared in his mind. His elemental affinity wasn’t correct for this spell. Afterward, the same message had a front row seat in his head as it continued to ring out with every spell book he grabbed.

By the time he worked his way through them all there were only four tomes left. And that included the [Protection] spell the old man had insisted he learn in the beginning. The others were; [Holy Shot], [Basic Heal], and [Void Shot]. Which turned out to be the only spells that were actual property of the church. Just like [Protection], both [Holy Shot] and [Basic Heal] were commonly known Light Spells. While [Void Shot] was only in the collection so that people of the church could learn about the feeling of Dark magic. He’d asked the old guy why one would need to know what Dark magic felt like, but Hasson had simply shaken his head and muttered something about suspicious old fogies.

However, when he casually told Hasson that he easily learned both the Light and Dark magic, the old man nearly had a heart attack. It wasn’t until he swore not to use [Void Shot] in the presence of others that Hasson eventually calmed down. In the days that followed Hasson continued to remind him, but he never did tell him why it was such a big deal. He figured he probably just needed to look for info himself in the area beyond the woods when his body grew a bit more.

Despite all that, after seeing how easily Larson was picking up magic, Hasson had insisted that he consider becoming an apprentice. For the 25-year-old Larson, having to constantly hear an old grandpa gush on and on about how he was such an amazing kid, and how Dragonlings were so lucky to have youngling’s that grow so fast and smart, was almost more than he could handle. He didn’t have very thick skin to start with, so after two months of being bombarded with unending compliments, he’d practically mastered the art of the awkward giggle. Finally caving under the embarrassing onslaught, he and the old man made a deal. Using his slowly expanding ego as an excuse, he promised to become an apprentice mage if Hasson agreed to tone it down with the compliments.

By taking an official oath to be Hasson’s student, he automatically received the Apprentice Mage job. Afterward, as a gift, Hasson surprised him with the [Appraisal] skill book. Once Larson had learned it, Hasson made him appraise him as a test. What he saw left him dumbstruck.

Name: Hasson Yugan

Titles: Keeper of the Trees

Race: High Elf

Main Job: Archmagus

Secondary Job: Wood Priest

Level: 62

HP: 7200/7200

MP: 7500/7500

Status: Healthy

Apprentice: Larson Reed

Bounty: 0 Gold

It was from that day onwards that he started spending more time in the woods. With his main job now being an Apprentice Mage the old guy’s reluctance to allow him to explore was hardly notable. The new job had granted him the [Fast Casting] skill. Having that in combination with both healing and protection spells, Hasson knew there wasn’t anything in the surrounding woods that could fatally harm Larson. At least, not before he could get to him.

Spending the day reminiscing, and basking in the early spring sunshine had become an everyday thing as of late. He laughed to himself when he realized that he was basically a sunbathing reptile. While wondering if one day he might start doing the tongue thing, he heard a commotion coming from deeper in the woods.

With his curiosity getting the better of him, he lifted himself from the bolder and gave a lazy stretch. Leaping off his warm perch he landed lightly on the ground before rushing towards the source of the sound. Leaving the clearing and slipping past the tree line, he kept himself to the shadows. It was at moments like this that he was thankful for the [Child of an Assassin] trait. Thanks to it, it seemed easier to notice shadows that could effectively hide him. It was also thanks to the trait that, after sneaking through the woods for a month, he had managed to learn the passive skill, [Light Steps]. The skill made him light on his feet and nearly erased the sound of his footsteps.

Taking full advantage of his skill, he got closer to where the sound of a struggle was growing louder. Coming to a stop in the shade of a giant pine, he finally saw the source of the noise. In the small clearing before him, a child with his back to a tree was surrounded by a hoard of slimes. Carrying a rusted sword and wearing tattered clothes, he looked like a small beggar. If it wasn’t for the look of deep resentment on his face, and the ease in which he handled his blade, one would think he was merely a pitiful child in a bad situation.

Keeping to the gloom of the tree line, Larson slowly observed the situation. Using [Appraisal] he was relieved to see that all the slimes were at the Pink Slimes level or lower. But when he appraised the cornered boy his expression darkened.

Name: (Hidden)

Titles: none

Race: White Tigerkin

Main Job: none

Secondary Job: none

Level: 3

HP: 120/300

MP: 200/200

Status: Poisoned

Bounty: 0 Gold

The bolded, Poisoned, located in the tigerkin’s status box, left him with a bad taste in his mouth. None of the slimes in the hoard had the ability to inflict poison. Which meant the reason the kid was alone in the woods, might somehow be connected to how he got it. It could also be why he had a death glare the likes of which he’d never seen before. Heaving a sigh, Larson decided on a plan. Choosing to ignore the troubles that might come his way from getting involved with the unknown, he slowly circled around in the background.

Arriving behind the tigerkin, he entered a battle-ready stance and waited. Seeing the perfect opportunity appear he struck out. Yet instead of using a spell like a proper mage, he had simply reached out and grabbed the tigerkin’s tail. Caught off guard by the sudden attack on his rear the tigerkin jumped up. However, before he could spin around to see his assailant he was yanked back into the protection of the trees.

Not waiting for the tigerkin to react, Larson switched places with him. Advancing into the empty space in front of the slimes, he started casting spells. Keeping Hasson’s warning about [Void Shot] in mind, he was choosing to fire off [Holy Shot]. Looking like a one-man light show, laser beams of white light poured from his two tiny finger guns. A smile bloomed on his face as he shot off attacks and watched the mass of slimes dying all around him. Little did he know that the look of pleasure on his face as he wiped the slimes from existence, could be seen. The tigerkin found himself shivering in fear as he stared at that grinning profile. The little-horned child was standing happily before him, killing slimes like they were weeds. Clenching his fist, he had to wonder, had he simply jumped from the pot to land in the fire?