Hello again readers! Another chapter is here, and its time to enjoy it. This is the beginning of the training arc, and the beginning of what I want to call a progressive time skip. There will be stories about different points in the training arc in the next couple chapters, and at the end of it I will conclude V1. Then V2 will begin, and yes, there will be something school related.

I hope you guys enjoy the read, also thanks to everyone who followed! I'm happy to already have over 100 followers, it's really amazing :).

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V1: Wild Child

C8: Scarlet and Azure

Currently Nova is with Bahina in his room at the inn, packing gear that he wants to take with him when he leaves.

“Nova, are you sure about this? I know you want to be strong, but do you really need to leave Lielatha..?” (Not that I’m really upset about it, this means I get to spend more time with my Nova. But if Nova gets too depressed..)

“It’s fine.. I know I want to stay with Lielatha and the others, but.. They all stayed in the outpost this entire time to look after me. They didn’t have to, but they did. And they taught me a lot about being an adventurer, so in a way they already did train me.

But in doing so did they not also give up their own lives as adventurers? I’ve been holding them back this entire time. I realized this when they said they needed to go on a trip to Shadow Deep. They must have been having a hard time with their money, while I was blindly enjoying my time with them, so I wanted to help them and really wanted to go on their trip with them. But I’m still too young and weak.

I like Lielatha, almost as much as I like mom.. but I don’t want to be a burden to her. Just like how I didn’t want to be a burden to Raksha, Raja, Suri, and you when we were cubs. I will get strong if I go with Uncle and Grandpa, and when I do get strong I’ll definitely come back and return everything that they did for me tenfold. So it’s fine Bahina.. This is a good thing.”

“N-Nova..” Bahina not only hearing his words, but also feeling the emotions roiling inside him through their bond.. Even if she could feel his emotions with the bond, she wasn’t able to read his mind to know what he was thinking. But for him to have thought about something even she didn’t think about.. it’s truly shocking how mature Nova was under the surface.

“Alright! That should just about do it, everything I’ll need for adventuring! I have herbs and potions to heal any wounds, I have ingredients for cooking meals along with a full set of cooking equipment, several changes of clothes, a map of the all the known wildernesses, a compass to know the directions, a guitar for music, a combination of a sword, dagger, bow, and a couple quivers of arrows, and a decent tent with a bedroll."

All in all, he had filled three adventurer packs full of gear that he had collected of the past year and a half that he thought he would need to go adventuring. Adventurer packs are also magically enchanted to hold more than a normal pack, such that you could have extra room to store loot from monsters beside all your essential gear.

“Hmm.. I guess it really does help to have a party to carry things.. I’ll just have to ask Uncle and Grandpa to help me carry these..”

Bahina watches him begin moving these full packs, sighs inwardly.. (I guess he’s still a silly little brother, even if he can be mature sometimes..)

….

In the ground floor of the inn, Nova’s uncle and grandfather are sitting a table with the Leilatha, Amber, Anna, Anderson, and Muiredon.

Leilatha is staring blankly at the table while lost in her thoughts, but Amber and Anna are giving the two men who are stealing Nova away the evil eye. As if trying to kill these two men and make them go away with nothing but their eyes, they burn their eyes into these two men.

Anderson silently waits with his arms cross and staring at the ceiling. Muiredon meanwhile, is tinkering with some fashion of metallic gear pieces at the edge of the booth.

*Thump.. Thump.. Thump..* Slowly, something heavy is making it’s way down the stairs. Everyone looks over, and they see Nova slowly pulling down three large adventurer packs down the steps while sweating and breathing roughly.

When Nova spots them at the table from halfway down the stairs, everyone is giving him a bewildered look except for his uncle, who is smiling amusedly.

“Can *huff* I get *huff* some help?” He pleads with them.

“Nova you could of just asked me for help, here..”

Bahina picks up the three packs in her mouth, and lifts them into the air with Nova dangling from their straps.

“Ah! Bahina! Put me down!”

Everyone begins laughing, breaking the tense mood that was there earlier. Even Lielatha smiles at seeing Nova wriggling about in mid-air while Bahina carries him down the stairs.

….

Nova is standing before Lielatha and the others at the edge of the outpost. Behind him are Bahina, his uncle, his grandfather, and a large eagle, the Skylord Eagle, that is his uncle’s companion.

“Nova, make sure to remember everything I taught you okay? And don’t fight anything dangerous. Don’t go in any dungeons either.. And you two. Don’t you dare do anything to hurt Nova. I don’t care how powerful you are, I will still hunt you down and take your manhood away from you. And..”

“Ah, Liela stop.. You’re being scary.”

“.. Sorry, Nova. It’s just..”

“I know, I’ll be safe. And I’ll definitely come find you when I’m stronger. As long as you’re waiting for me, I’ll definitely come back.”

Leilatha knowing that she got too worked up, smiles at being consoled by a young Nova. “You better. Don’t forget our promise Nova, otherwise I will hunt you down and make you regret ignoring me.” She playfully rubs her hand through his hair, knowing that it will be a very long time before she’ll get to do so again.

“You two.. don’t forget about me! I want to come adventuring with you too Nova! So you better come get me as well if I’m not with Liela.” (Amber)

“Me too! If you leave me out, I’ll feel insulted you know?” (Anna)

“Haha, I’ll come find you myself Nova. When you’re old enough we’ll go travel to towns and play concerts. Then you’ll really understand that I wasn’t kidding about those miles of women lining up for you.. I can’t wait, honestly..” (Anderson)

Lastly, Muiredon walks up to Nova. He takes something out of his pocket, and places it in Nova’s hand. “Lad, this is just a small token. Shows that you’re a friend of dwarves, so if you ever decide to go see the mountains, you’ll receive good treatment.”

Although its hard to tell, you could feel that he was smiling beneath his beard. Even if it was only for a short time and he was a quiet man who didn’t talk much with Nova, he still enjoyed having him as an apprentice in potion-making.

It’s tradition for Dwarf master’s to always give their apprentices a parting gift when they leave, usually something to help them progress in their craft, but for now this was all he could give Nova.

“Ah! Thanks Uncle Don!” (Didn’t even know what nickname to come up with V-V)

Muiredon nods, and steps back to the others.

“Alright, I think that’s enough of your goodbyes. We need to go now Nova, no time to waste with your sixth birthday coming up.” (Myrin)

All the adventurer’s glare at him, but he doesn’t react to them.

“Ok. I’ll be going now, so um.. look forward to when I come back! I’ll definitely be strong!” He says while walking backwards and waving at his friends, fighting back the tears.

While he’s waving at them, he’s suddenly plucked off the ground and thrown on the back of the Skylord Eagle. Without warning, the eagle begins flapping it’s wings, rising into the air with Nova, his uncle, and his grandfather on its back.

“Ah! What about Bahina?!” Nova is watching Bahina frantically leaping up to try to catch the eagle who’s taking Nova away.

“Don’t worry, she’s coming..” The eagle swoops down, catching Bahina in it’s claws.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” (Bahina)

And they fly off into the horizon..

….

They’ve been flying for about five minutes now, and Nova has managed to gain enough balance to sit in an upright position on the eagle’s back.

“So, um, Grandp-”

“I am your master, boy. So you will call me as such.”

“... Master.. Where exactly are we heading?”

“Ah, right.” With a flick of his wrist three adventurer packs appear on the back of the eagle. “These are your packs right Nova?”

“Yes Master.”

“Alright, and you have an Adventurer’s Plate as well, right? Take it out for me.”

Nova obediently takes the Adventurer’s Plate out of his pocket and hands it over to his grandfather.

“Alright.” His uncle immediately picks up the bags and throws them off the side of the eagle, and his grandfather sends a massive pulse of mana into the plate, shattering it to dust that is blown away in the wind.

“HAH?!? MY STUFF?!? Why did you do that?!” In a mere second, everything Nova had collected over the past year and a half at the adventurer’s outpost is gone, falling down to the earth below.

“It’s better to live off the land with your own two hands than relying on tools like that.” (Uncle)

“And numbers only serve as a distraction from your training, best not to have such a useless rock telling you your own worth.” (Grandfather)

“*sob* My dreams.. my achievements.. so cruel.. *sob*” Nova cries while leaning over the side of the eagle, staring at the ground below them.

“Hm, so where do you think we should start? What about the Greater Sun Plains?” (Uncle)

“I was thinking of the Jade Jungle over to the east, should be a stable enough environment.” (Grandfather)

“True, but we don’t want to make it too easy on him. How about the Graveyard Swamp?” (Uncle)

“OY?! Aren’t these all incredibly dangerous wildernesses you’re naming?!” (Nova)

“Nova, don’t yell at your Masters. Also, don’t sweat over such trivial things, we’re thinking right now. Ah I know, how about the frozen tundra that the Adventurer’s Enclave hasn’t made known to the public yet?” (Grandfather)

“Ooo, that would be good. Let’s start there then.” (Uncle)

They both look at Nova with mischievous smiles, and cruel eyes.

“Ah.. I’m sorry Liela.. I don’t think I’ll be making it back..” Nova cowers away from the two of them, backpedalling along the back of the eagle.

The eagle flies off to the north-west, leaving behind the likes of the Eternal Night Forest and the plains of Pendragonia…

….

Far into the wilderness to the north-west of the Beast-Plain Kingdom, beyond the giant trees of the Eternal Night Forest and the vast plains of the Greater Sun Plains, is cold, barren land.

The cold wind blows through the terrain, freezing any and all life it comes across. The soil has long since been frozen solid, and the plant life has been cased in a world of ice.

Deep inside this terrain is a steep cliff that leads up to a plateau. At the base of this cliff, there is a small cave that looks like nothing more than a pinhole in the face of this cliff. Inside this cave are five living beings, who have miraculously survived the harsh cold of the land.

These livings beings are Nova, his uncle, his grandfather, Bahina, and Tommy (his uncle’s eagle).

Nova is currently sitting in a posture with his back straight, his legs crossed, and both his arms resting upon his legs. His breath comes in and out slowly, but with a good warmth to it.

Bahina is sitting next to him on her hind legs, breathing in a similar fashion, slow and warm.

Both of their eyes are shut, but there is no strain on them, as if they are simply asleep.

It has been two months since Nova was brought to the tundra, and his grandfather immediately took over beginning his training. The most important thing right now was to prep Nova for awakening his elemental when he turns six years of age.

Unlike the adventurer’s they have a fairly close estimate as to when his birthday will be, although not an absolutely certain date.

The strange was, that Bahina was supposed to have reached her sixth year before Nova, but surprisingly her awakening hadn’t come by the time his grandfather had said his would come.

So they were both currently learning how to feel the mana in the world around them, to learn its flow and current. To be able to see it as though it were a physical thing. To bring them closer to the power that would awaken the elementals sleeping inside them, as the closer you were to awakening the better you could sense mana although you still wouldn’t be able to control it.

The reason for that is because the elemental sleeping inside them is constantly absorbing mana, to create their forms within them. The elementals themselves were in control of the mana within their body, not allowing the owner to use it. Kind of like a parasite, but it’ll be repaid later on.

The time was coming closer and closer for them to awaken.. minutes.. seconds.. the it began. Not just for Nova, but for Bahina as well. At the exact same time.

While in their meditative thoughts, they could suddenly see the mana in the world around them begin collapsing on top of them. It felt as though a giant was slowly pushing down on them, increasing the strength of its push as each second flew by.

They focused on watching the mana, trying to understand everything that happened, but it soon became hard to breath.. then it became hard to think.. then it became impossible.

Both of their consciousness were once again ripped from their bodies, pulled through vasts amounts of space. The memories of everything that happened during the Hunter’s Bond flooded into them. The pink bamboo, the massive tiger, the incredible flame, the string of their soul, the burning heat as they fused together. Even now they could see the string that connected them together as they flew through the endless space.

Then their focus was forced somewhere else. They saw a large sea of red grass. On the sea of red grass were two young tiger cubs, one of red flame and another of blue flame.

They saw the two cubs play together, and as they ran about the sea of red grass they slowly grew in size. As they watched the two cubs grew up into young adult tigers, and their childish playing turned into a juvenile romance.

They spent their days together traveling through many different places beyond the red sea of grass. Through orange jungles, yellow deserts, crimson volcanoes, green forests, blue canyons, and a multitude of other places. Then they returned to the sea of red grass.

By now they were adults and were madly in love. But when they returned, what greeted their love wasn't welcoming gazes. Large groups of red and blue tigers surrounded them, separated on opposite sides. The largest tigers from each side roared angrily at the other and also at the couple.

Both sides were ready to launch themselves into war, claiming the other side was using one of the couple to trick the other. Both of members of the couple were heirs to their respective families, but they had fallen for each other, members of the enemy family.

In effort to prevent the war, the couple split apart, their love wrapped in the chains of duty to their families. They returned to the sides of their family, and convinced them to leave without war.

And so the two abandoned their love, closing off their hearts to never forget the other. As time went on they became the leaders of their families, and took on the duties of managing them. They became powerful, and were respected across the Elemental Plain of Fire, but their hearts always remained closed off.

The scene changed, to the inside of den. A den that both Bahina and Nova knew well. Inside this den was a young child with thin red and black-striped hair sleeping next to a young tiger cub with white and pale-blue-striped fur.

As they watched, blue and red fire energy began to seep into the image. The forms of two tiger cubs overlay-ed the images of the child and cub. One of a pure red flame and the other of a pure blue flame. The flames moved about, trying to connect to other flame only to be blocked by a thin barrier.

The image changed again, this time the scene was inside the inn back in the Adventurer’s Outpost. Inside the room Nova and Bahina were sitting on opposite sides of the Bond Scroll with their hands placed on top.

Once again the images of the two young tigers overlay-ed on top of them. They flames rampaged about, trying to reach the other, to once again be able to connect to the other. Slowly, a string comes out of Nova and Bahina’s chest, joining them together.

Then, as if waiting for this moment, the two flames merge. Like a brilliant, lively dance, they merge and swirl around both Nova and Bahina. For four days and nights, these flames dance together, with each movement slowly merging the flames together. Until finally, the dance slows down to a stop.

The blue flames coming from Bahina swirl towards Nova, and the red flames coming from Nova swirl towards Bahina. They move calmly and peacefully.

The image changes again, Nova sees a young adult tiger of red flame, “I am Asha, Queen of the Scarlet Flame Tiger family.” Bahina sees a young adult tiger of blue flame, “I am Khan, King of the Azure Flame Tiger family.” “”We greet you, masters, and thank you for allowing us to love again.””

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