/Author's Note

Great news everyone! My college classes are finishing up and I will soon have more time to spend writing chapters so there should be more frequent updates.

Also, I just started my second fiction, it's a Post- Apocalyptic Sci-Fi called Age of the Mad Gods. I would appreciate it if you guys gave it a look.

Please consider rating the series and commenting any thoughts you have on the chapters. I am always willing to consider incorporating your ideas into my story.

As always, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 7:

Alric continued to climb upwards toward the darkness of the great vent, leaving behind the only place he had known for the past fifteen years.

Although he had knowledge from a past life he had no memories of it and the Great Mana Cave was truly his home.

As he continued his ascent Alric reminisced about his time with the Mana Titans.

The Mana Titans are a very serious, survival minded people.

Every person, from the young children to the elders, had a duty to perform to ensure the survival of everyone in the colony.

They had very business minded personalities, when they weren’t sleeping they were always completing some task.

Although some may consider it a fault the Mana Titans were hardly sentimental and did not have a concept of leisure.

That’s not to say, however, that they did not have emotions.

Some of Alric’s best memories were of laughing and smiling alongside the other colony members as they worked.

One time, while tending crops with a farmer, a sponge cow wandered in and began eating away. A sponge cow is one of the stranger creatures in the caves, having a body that is spongey and resistant to impact. Try as they might Alric and the farmer could not scare the cow away. The farmer then angrily rushed up to the cow and pushed it over. Alric began laughing after he saw what happened next. The cow bounced. Seeing this Alric suggested, in between fits of laughter, that they bounce the cow out of the area. With a grin and a chuckle the farmer said, “Let’s do it boy.” Later the story spread among the other Mana Titans who saw the two of them bouncing the cow along the cave, laughter following in their wake.

Another day, when he was out hunting with a couple of hunters they happened upon one of the rarest of prey. An iridescent stag. He was six feet tall with antlers that spanned three feet. His fur was naturally interwoven and glimmered all the colors of the rainbow in the light. They all held their breaths, an iridescent stag had extremely good hearing and could even tell the change in heart rate when a predator is about to attack. The three remained calm and impassive. One of the hunters slowly raised his bow without allowing himself to become excited. He carefully took aim, and fired. By the time the stag heard the snap of the bowstring it was already too late. The arrow flew true and hit the mark right in the stag’s chest. The hunters yelled in joy, iridescent stag meat is extremely delicious. That day they returned in triumph bearing the rare delicacy.

But to Alric the best memories were of his mother, Eria. His mother’s job was to take care of all the young children and because of this she was always really busy. Alric and his mother did not spend much time together but that did not mean they were not close. His mother was a quiet and calm person. When Alric would return from hunting, training or any other task his mother would always be there to greet him. She would always receive him with a smile and eyes shining with pride, and she would always say the words, “Good Job Alric.” To Alric his relationship with his mother didn’t need to be filled with words when she always showed him how much she cared with her actions.

As he reached the great vent he spoke out loud, “I will definitely see them all again.”

Eria stood at the base of the great vent watching as Alric disappeared into the darkness.

“Good Luck on the surface.” She whispered, having no doubt he would reach his destination.

----A few days later----

Alric walked through the unexplored caves following the subtle airflow that was his only clue to reaching the surface.

He had no way of telling how far he had come or how much longer he had to go.

He spent most of the time practicing with his new attachments.

They could be a bit unwieldy at times but in general he liked the way they worked.

For in the caves he mostly used the configuration of having the small crossbow attached to his left gauntlet and the spikes attached to his right.

In order to hunt fast moving animals he would begin by shooting a bolt into one of the legs then rushing forward and finishing it off with the spikes.

One day while walking down the tunnel Alric heard a faint roar in the tunnel ahead of him.

He knew right away what creature the distinctive roar belonged to.

It was a cave bear.

A massive ten foot long killing machine covered in armor tougher than iron.

Massive claws that could cleave a person in two.

Extremely intelligent, the cave bear is the deadliest creature in the cave system.

Alric knew there was no way around it.

He took out the bladed claws attachment, it was the only attachment with enough reach to actually penetrate the bear.

As he approached the sound of roaring he noticed the sound of growls and yelping in the background.

It seems that the bear was currently fighting a group of stealth wolves.

Stealth wolves were practically identical to ordinary wolves, however, they had the ability to use light magic.

The main use of this was to create optical camouflage, effectively becoming invisible.

This was useless against the cave bear though because its sense of smell was good enough to pinpoint the wolves’ locations.

By the time Alric reached the bear the noise from the wolves had faded away.

The bear noticed his approach and their eyes met.

Instantly both Alric and the bear took off running.

Roaring with bloodlust, claws outstretched, the bear lunged at Alric.

Using the full power of his body strengthening Alric dodged, launching himself off the cave wall.

The bear’s sharp claws narrowly missed Alric’s leg as he flew through the air.

Alric continued using the technique of pushing off the walls to launch himself at the bear trying to get a strike in.

But the bear was wary and whenever Alric would get close the bear would be waiting to strike him with his paw.

Alric had no choice but to abort each strike at the last second.

This game of chicken continued for a couple minutes until the bear made a mistake.

Alric took the chance flying, blades falling down to cut at the bear’s neck.

But Alric too, made a mistake.

The blades bounced harmlessly off the bear’s thick armor.

The bears paw descended like a wrecking ball and knocked Alric across the cave and into the wall.

Alric, the wind knocked out of him, focused on avoiding the bear’s attacks so he could recover.

As Alric flitted from one place to the next he pondered what he could do to defeat the bear.

Then he was struck with an idea.

Alric began using magic to vibrate the bladed claws.

He put all his strength into one jump and rocketed from the cave wall toward the bear.

This time Alric was too fast and the bear could not react in time.

The vibrating blades once again descended upon the bear’s neck.

Like a hot knife through butter the blades cleaved through the armor and sliced off the head of the giant bear.

Alric collapsed on the floor his stamina drained.

For a few minutes Alric went in and out of consciousness.

When he finally regained his senses he heard a faint noise that had been unnoticeable before while the bear was roaring.

There was a faint whimpering sound.

Alric looked around the cave and found the source of the noise in the corner.

It was a stealth wolf puppy.

It was the only one that had survived the attack of the cave bear.

The puppy had deep black fur and bright golden eyes.

Carefully Alric picked him up.

The pup was cowering in fear but Alric held it close, attempting to calm it down.

He decided that he would keep the puppy and raise it to become his traveling companion.

He decided to name it Shadow.

Over the next few weeks Alric continued on his journey taking care of shadow.

Eventually shadow warmed up to him and began to faithfully follow him around.

Then approximately two months after he had left the Great Mana cave, there was a glimmer of light in the tunnel ahead of them.

Alric ran forward and finally left the cave.

---------------------------------

-----Age of the Mad Gods-------

---------------------------------