A Romantic Fantasy

Waking up to see an unknown ceiling, I was pretty uneasy as I regained my consciousness after such unusual happenings. I looked around the bed in which I was laying and found myself in a small bed in an old-fashioned garden house. The walls seemed to be made up of some kind of squarely cut stones, and the long windows were adorned with beautiful multicoloured glass. Beyond which I saw a beautiful, no, not well-maintained garden with beautiful red tulip-like flowers. But, there was something strange. No matter where I looked, I could see a mysterious white smoke-like substance, though very faint, coming out of everywhere, like the cracks in the wall, the floor, from the flowers outside and even in some spots in the ground. And if I concentrated more, I could also feel in the very air. I took a few deep breaths to taste that substance, and it surprisingly felt refreshing. The feeling was somewhat similar to what I felt when I was drowning. And then it suddenly occurred to me that I was not breathing at frequent intervals like the living.

I jumped out of my bed and hurried outside taking deep breaths. But as soon as I stopped, the spontaneous breathing didn't start. But strangely, I was not suffocating. Moreover, my body felt very light and cold. The surroundings looked bigger as well. I walked up to the crystalline glass windows and looked at my reflection. I was very confused when I saw a cute little kid with strangely bigger eyes staring back at me. I looked at my small hands which now has a porcelain white skin, and then I realised that I was wearing nothing but a pair of short pants and a tunic made from a strange fabric. It felt as if it had been made by roughly weaving some kind of animal fur. I was sure that this body is not of a human anymore and this place is not Earth.

I sat down on the bed and decided to think about the events that had led to this. Then the door, opposite to the one leading to the garden, opened and a thin and tall man entered. His eyes appeared golden and sharp and his skin white. But his most distinguishable feature was his sharp pointy ears.

'If I am correct, then his is one of them, the well-known Elves that appear in the fantasy stories.' I thought. 'Then, his young looks must also be deceiving, and he might be actually over a hundred years old.'

"So you woke up, little man." He smiled. "I was worried when there was no sign of life from you for over a week. But then I thought that you might be one of those, the undead...No no, you are not normal considering the circumstances where I found you. So, I waited patiently." He then looked at my eyes and asked, "Now then, what's your name, little man?"

"My name is Kenny." For some reasons I didn't mention my family name. "And, I am not sure what I am. But I, don't seem to be breathing nor do I have a pulse. I..I don't even know where I am right now or how I got here."

"Hmm...it is mentioned it the tales of the past that the High Undead didn't breathe like the living. But we certainly don't have much information to make any conclusions. And, as for the pulse, it is not unusual for some of the undead kinds to not have one." O no no, not having a pulse is definitely not unusual. "Your memory loss seems to the adverse effects of falling in the holy water fountain". What? Holy water? Was I floating in a big bowl in a church? "Anyway, you shouldn't worry about anything Kenny. I safely recovered you from the caves and my maid, Mimosa used healing magic on you. Here, you are in a safe place with us. We can do your identifications again, in the city hall, later in the evening." He gave a very reassuring smile. "And by the way, my name is Prof. Agusthus Agrimony. I am currently studying the archives of these ruins called The High Gardens."

I was surprised to hear unusual words like ruins and undead. But the word which piqued most interest was 'Magic'. So, I asked, "Professor, you mentioned things called magic and ruins. Where am I actually and where did you find me?"

"Hmm...looks like you are also lacking the basic common knowledge. Well, don't worry Kenny. I will teach you alll the common things." He looked somewhat happy when I asked that. Then he started explaining to me as a teacher.

First, he gave a rough idea of these ruins. Then he narrated that story, how he found me in the holy water fountain in the caves in the basement. But the basin was drying out slowly. So, as soon as he carried me to safety, he returned there and collected some holy water in big jars, and is currently using it to create medicines and potions of his own. Looks like he is also good in chemistry. Or will it be alchemy, since I am in another world. He was pretty surprised when I asked about the holy water. So, he gave me a more elaborate lecture in it.

What I managed to figure out is that this so-called Astral Energy is essential for the people of this world. It has the same roles as energy back in Earth, but here, it has a white smoky free form. It can a controlled by practice and changed to matter to achieve supernatural feats like magic. He demonstrated it by lighting a small bluish flame atop his finger like a candle wick. But the most surprising thing was when he concentrated some of that energy in his fingers and bent a metallic coin-shaped object, which he had pulled out of his pocket. He explained that the internal Astral energy of the body, called mana, can be used to strengthen the body parts as per the requirement. This technique is used by all living organisms to enhance themselves to fight their enemies.

"Looks like its already lunch time Kenny. Let's talk again after we have our lunch. You might also be very hungry after sleeping for that long." There was something unusual about that too. I was not that hungry. But I haven't evidently lost my appetite.

"For now, until you find your family or your friends, you can stay here with us. Most of my former comrades have left this place after the Dawnfall. So, you don't have to worry about the rooms at least. My maid Mimosa will take care of the housework." The prof. further added with a bright smile on his strange sculpture like face. "She has also prepared today's lunch. Now now, let us not keep her waiting shall we."

"Yes, professor. Let's go."

I followed him to the dining hall which is in the ground floor of the main house. The High Gardens mainly consists of a vast western-style mansion hidden in the woods. The walls are cracked here and there, and creepers are all over the place. There are also many sheds covered with strange crystals, which looks like greenhouses, in the vast gardens surrounding the area. The interior is beautifully decorated with Victorian style furniture, most of which have been damaged with time.

----

I saw a beautiful young lady setting the table when we reached the dining hall. Her big beautiful eyes looked redder than a rose, and her short shoulder-length silky black hair was tied up on her head. "Professor and, the guest. I have set the lunch." She said with a sweet voice not lacking a fair share of attractiveness.

"Let me introduce Mimosa. She is the maid who takes care of me. She is also of the undead race, Kenny. More precisely, she is from the vampire race." Vampires! Vampires!!!... I guess they are not considered to be dangerous here. Later, I came to know that their food is not limited to human blood. They can drink any kind of blood and eat flesh too.

"Hello, my name is Kenny. I heard from the professor that you healed me when I was unconscious. I am really grateful for saving me when I was in danger." I tried to introduce myself as politely as possible.

"Now now, please don't worry about that. I did what I could to save someone in danger." Suddenly her face was close to me, and she gave a beautiful smile taking my breath away. "Now that you look completely healed, I am pleased to see that."

Whats with that superhuman movement? As I thought, vampires are strong.

"Mimosa, Kenny has just woken up. Cut him some slack please."

She was probabaly planning to tease me more. I somehow separated myself and sat down on the table opposite the professor. The lunch consisted of fresh vegetables, soft buns and a bowl of soup which had a exotic meat. It was like red meat, quite fatty and incredibly fragrant. Like a cross between beef and mutton with extra meatiness. Well, my taste buds have also been upgraded, and I could tell a lot about meat, just by having a lick. There was also a little mana coming out of it. Mana is the internal Astral energy of a living organism, and the natural Astral energy is called Ynni.

"W..whatt?" I almost cried out when Mimosa let me know that the meat was of the Armbrus wolf, which inhabits the north end of the Aster mountains behind the red forest.

I didn't understand that feeling. My mind was filled with disgust, but my tongue couldn't forget its pleasant taste. It was my first time eating something related to a dog. I tried to calm down...and took another spoonful of the soup.

"Kenny, you can also accompany Mimosa in her hunts. The red forest's strongest beasts are the wolves. Until and unless you go deeper into the mountains, it is relatively safe. And Mimosa will be with you, too. Although she looks like this, she is pretty strong you know."

"Professor!! I am not a child anymore!!"

I, too, wanted to go out to learn more about this fantasy new world. It is a man's dream to go for hunts and then cook and eat them. So, I happily agreed. Mimosa explained that she occasionally goes out for hunts. She drinks the blood and collects the body for meat and other materials.

----

After the lunch, the professor went to his room to take rest. Mimosa and I decided to go on a small hunting trip. She provided me with a set of outdoor clothes and went to the kitchen to do the dishes as I got ready. The set consisted of a long-sleeved Viking tunic, a pair of trousers, knee-high boots and a small, dull knife made from a strange metal. I remembered wearing similar clothes at a cosplay party when I was a kid. I was getting more and more excited.

We started shortly after. Mimosa was wearing a long coat atop her usual maid dress. A similar small knife was hanging around her waist. We crossed the long gardens and passed through a gate and exited the ruins. After a short walk, we entered the forest.

The forest looks like a typical woodland, with its tall black trees and red leaves, and the occasional patches of the red tulip-like flowers on the ground in small clearings. Now I could guess why it is known as the red forest. Moreover, there is a mysterious atmosphere around the woods with the eerie looking small patches of fog moving on the ground here and there.

Wait...wait a minute...this is definitely not normal. What are these ghost-like things?

I stopped on my tracks and started following them with my eyes. I would have definitely run away if Mimosa was not there.

Mimosa noticed my uneasiness and quickly swept her hand in the air. Suddenly a gust of wind started blowing, following the movements of her hand and blew away those ghost-like things.

"Mi...Mimosa, do the fogs usually move like that?" Hearing this, she started laughing.

"I was pretty surprised when the professor said that you lack the common sense. You are like a cute little newborn child." She gave a 'hehehe' teasing laugh. "Don't worry, Kenny. I will teach you a lot of things."

Yes, yes, you can make fun of me. I was disgruntled. You are actually correct Mimosa. I am indeed a newborn here in this world. I followed Mimosa deep into the woods, and she kept talking about a lot of things along the way.

----

First, she told me about the people of this world called Eden. According to common knowledge, there are mainly 7 different races in this world. The humans and the like are the majority. But they generally have a short lifespan of about 200 years, which is definitely not short if compared to earth.

Second to them are the people of the numerous demonic races. The horned people are in the majority among them, and they generally have a longer lifespan of about 500 years. There are various other subraces, most of them live a farming or nomadic lifestyle.

Next comes the demi-humans who live in the vast forests of the central continent. But in the recent years, they seem to have spread almost everywhere. Their lifespan varies according to their type.

The elves and the sprites are next in numbers. They inhabit the small island continents in the far west. They have very long lifespans of about 1 to 3 thousand years.

The rest of the races namely the dragon race, the undead and the angels are in the minority. The dragon race makes clans and lives isolated in their small cities. They live for about a thousand years. The angels are small beings with wings, and they live relatively long lives. They are more like the fairies, I guess. The undead are found in small colonies in the northern and southern parts of the continents. Some of them have the most extended lifespans of thousands of years.

The 'High' counterparts of the respective races have stronger racial traits and lives longer. The high beings of most of the races are rare and are held in high esteem.

The beings with low intelligence are called beasts. They are used as livestock or killed when they try to harm. But there are many beasts which are strong and very dangerous. Let's stay away from them as far as possible. The things I saw before were Wraiths. They are formed when beasts or people die in areas with more Ynni. Their remaining life force and mana coalesces in the surroundings and absorb the Ynni and become Wraiths. Well, in simple words, they are the ghosts. Yup, I was correct.

----

We crossed small streams and climbed small hills as we walked towards the mountains. But we didn't come across many beasts. More like, they ran away after perceiving Mimosa. She kept tracks of the big reindeer like animals that we occasionally came across. They are called Aries, and they are bigger than an average horse. I got scared thinking about the wolves that hunted these. Gradually the path became more and more difficult to trek as we reached the foot of the mountains.

Mimosa suggested that we should run, if possible, above the ground from here on out. She made a small leap and was immediately on top of a branch of a nearby tree. Similarly, she leapt to the nearby tree.

Is she a ninja? Woah...today I have seen a real ninja. I was very excited after seeing her running like that.

"Common Kenny. Let your mana flow to your legs and leave the rest to your instincts."

'Wait wait, I am not even sure if I have mana since I am not from this world, let alone make it flow.' She came down and asked me to concentrate as if feeling my blood coming out from my heart and move it according to my will.

'What? Feel my blood coming out of my heart. This is confusing on so many levels.' Although I couldn't even feel my pulse, I tried as she said.

As I closed my eyes, I had a cold feeling around my chest as if my heart was pumping out cold soda in my system. It felt so good that I thought I might get addicted to it. I recalled that I had felt it before, at that time when I was heavily drunk and drowning. Then, was it my mana that made me lose my consciousness?

Slowly, the cold feeling spread all over my body, and I hurriedly opened my eyes to keep myself from losing my consciousness again. But fortunately, it didn't happen.

The surroundings looked completely different when I opened my eyes. The trees and grass looked brighter and with more colours. As if my eyesight had been upgraded, I could even see the smallest bug and the farthest trees. Do the eagles always see their world like this?

"You succeeded in full Body enhancement in your first try." Mimosa was amazed. "Right..right...As I thought, you are very talented Kenny."

"I...am not sure what happened. But, my body feels very good, and all my senses seem to have improved."

"You have succeeded in a technique which generally takes a lot of time to learn and years to master. The strong warriors would definitely envy you. Your beautiful pearl-like eyes are faintly glowing, which is the result of your mana flowing all over your body enhancing all your senses and muscles." She came closer and caressed my cheeks. "Now, we are ready to go. Let's hunt some wolves." She looked very excited and jumped to the nearby tree and disappeared from sight.

The surging power in my whole body told me that I could also move fast like that now. I decided to let go of all my hesitations and then jumped with all my power.

----

Ahh...I was above the roof of the forest and was free falling. Nope, I didn't have any parachutes nor did I have any suicide objectives. Actually, I used way more power than the required amount and launched to the sky like a rocket.

BAM!! I landed on a branch. Surprisingly I was not hurt. Looks like It will take a lot of time getting used to this.

Suddenly, Mimosa was standing next to me giggling. What is so funny about this!!

After she calmed down a little, she informed me that she had found our prey. A group of Aries were sighted running down the mountain slope chased by two Armbrus wolves.

It was time for the hunt!