Elsewhere at that same moment…

Tenryu had just packed up his camp earlier that morning and was following where his compass was pointing.

“What is wrong with thing?!”

He shakes the compass violently, but as the needle spins it returns back to its previous position. It was still pointing to the same direction as it did during the aurora’s appearance last night.

Tenryu was still feeling discomfited by what he had seen last night.

The appearance of an aurora was taken with many superstitions. It is usually seen at the Far West and East countries. Only in rare occasions does it shine over the Medea Kingdom. It is believed the appearance of Aurora was the prelude to something great about to happen. There was another weird myth that Tenryu’s sister likes that says that if you met someone during an aurora appearance you found your soul mate. There were many more superstitions it, Tenryu was not on for listening to tall tales.

So why was he still thinking back about that?

All this deep thinking has left his head feeling all fuzzy and aching. He wasn’t used to doing as such. But his headache only got worse as he was increasingly getting annoyed by how unresponsive his compass is at the moment.

For as long as he had had it, it has never failed him once. He was never needed maps and he relied on the special needle of his compass to guide him where he wants to go. Through its needle, it can act like a homing beacon to guide him where he wanted to go. It can still give normal directions like a regular compass through the rotating compass rose behind the needle. It remains fixed at the corresponding directions. So rather than the needle it’s this floating ring that acts like a normal compass.

Now Tenryu was sure where he wanted to go but now the needle seemed to be pointing at something else!

“What the blitz is this thing pointing at?” Tenryu yells in frustration. He stared at it with mixed emotions of being confused and plainly ticked off. But as he walked on the needle seemed to have changed positions and was slowly moving to the left.

“So now the needle’s moving?”

RUSTLE

Tenryu suddenly hears something shuffling in the bushes.

He turns on his feet, his hand flying towards his sword.

“Who’s there?”

The rustling sound moved around him like a circle. Tenryu raised his sword, which then burst into flames!

“I’m warning you! I don’t really give a blitz where I swing this!”

Tenryu suddenly heard a rumble from one of the bushes in his immediate right!

“Over there!”

He slashed the air. It formed a blade of flames that shot right out of the sword and struck the bushes! There was a screeching yelp and a large furry beast leapt out of the bushes and there was a shiny red burn on the top its head!

“You again!” growls Tenryu in the same manner as the beast. “It’s because of you I had to eat stale fish! It’s time we finished what we started yesterday!”

Tenryu braced himself for an attack and then launched himself against the beast! The beast tried to take a swipe at him with its claw but Tenryu dodged it!

“Not this time…”

As the beast passed by him, Tenryu readied his sword.

“Flame Dragon Style: Blitz Claw!”

As Tenryu slashed, the flames formed a claw-like shape and struck the best on the side! The spell had obviously hit its mark as the beast reeled in pain as it was knocked to the side of a tree. It tried to get up but it collapsed.

“Ha! Got you good there didn’t I? Huh?”

Tenryu approached it, but as soon as he came close to it he realized he had made a mistake.

“Oh blitz, you’re not the one from yesterday! You’re not even a Rabbit-Armadillo!”

It wasn’t a Rabbit-Armadillo at all but was in fact what the locals would call a Marble Pufferwarthog. Once can easily mistake the Pufferwarthog for Rabbit-Armadillo due to its hunched appearance, enormous size, huge sharp teeth and white fur. But these animals are quite gentle and docile. However, this wasn’t the only thing that concerned Tenryu.

These beasts are considered endangered species and attacking them is a criminal offense!

“Oh, blitz…I’m sorry! But you did sneak up on me!”

Tenryu quickly rummaged in his belt bag. Even though the bag seemed too small to carry anything useful that might help, this was no ordinary bag! Immediately he pulled out some long piece of cloth he sometimes uses for a hammock and a rope.

“Alright, I’m not as good as Nia in wrapping bandages but I’m pretty sure I got the gist of it! Hey, where do you think you’re going?!”

The beast struggled to get away from him but Tenryu managed to catch it. He tried to bandage the beast with the hammock but it kept on struggling!

“Calm down! I’m trying to help!”

Tenryu gritted his teeth in effort as he tightened his pull on the hammock. He was completely unaware that he was causing it more pain. The Pufferwarthog reacted to that by suddenly went on an agitated rampage!

“Whoa! What the blitz is wrong with you?” Tenryu yelled as he was tossed around like a bull rider.

He grabbed hold onto the cloth and he wound up being dragged around the forest like a ragged doll! After being smacked into trees and brushed through some thorny bushes, Tenryu had had enough.

“Alright, you asked for some desperate measures!”

Tenryu pulled onto the cloth again causing the Pufferwarthog to turn sharply in attempt to throw him off! But Tenryu used this to his advantage by using the momentum to swing himself onto the Pufferwarthog’s back!

“It’s time for you to take a nap!”

He clenched his hand into a fist and it suddenly glows on fire! Tenryu’s gloves aren’t just for wear. They are actually his back-up Magical Tools which also utilize Fire Magic. Tenryu slammed his fist at the top of the Pufferwarthog’s head!

A large explosion rocked the whole forest!

***

Benny, who was walking through some odd flowers that were dancing to his whistling, jumped as he felt the explosion erupt from far away. The flowers themselves closed up their petals as though they were afraid of something. He sees the giant mushroom cloud of smoke rising in the air.

“I-I shouldn’t lag around! This place is dangerous after all!”

Benny walked on ahead until he treaded on something: a tail!

He only realized too late that he stepped on a tail when its owner came leaping out from the bushes and landed tight in front of him! If Benny thought those shows where a large beast had just popped out when you accidently trod on their tails was funny…

…he didn’t think so now!

Benny felt as though hell had opened before him! A huge saber-toothed tiger was baring its fangs menacingly! Its fangs were as sharp and jagged like a sharks jaw! Its paws had huge claws on them!

“N-nice…kitty?” stuttered Benny.

It roared right at his face.

Benny did the first though that came to mind: run!

Benny ran as fast as his legs could carry him but it was obviously futile as the beast just simply leapt onto him! Benny fell down to the ground with a resounding crash with the cat monster’s weight pinning him down! He could feel the horrid, hot breath at the back on his neck and Benny knew that it was going to make a snack out of him!

Benny was so paralyzed his fear that he couldn’t move. He only closed his eyes and screamed.

“GET OFF ME!!!” he yelled at the top of his voice

Just as the beast was about to sink its jaws on him, something glowed from Benny’s bag!

Benny felt a strange surge of energy exploded from his bag and the weight of the monster on him disappeared. He heard a loud slamming sound followed by a yelp of pain!

In confusion, Benny opened an eye looked up around and glanced behind him. He saw the giant cat had somehow been thrown off him and slammed straight to far-off tree. But he had little time to think about it when the beast got up growling, with its fangs bared again. It attacked. But before Benny could react, he feels that strange warmth in his bag again.

His bag began to glow in bright light!

A wave of energy had burst from it and the beast slammed straight into some kind of glowing transparent barrier! He saw the cat had been thrown away again albeit further out!

Benny stares, astounded by what he had seen.

He looks down at his glowing bag and opens it to find Abuela’s book glowing again!

“Benjamin…”

The voice again!

“This barrier won’t last long…”

As the voice spoke, the cat beast had rushed in and slammed against the barrier. Benny could see the light fading away from the barrier.

“What should I do?” Benny asks panicking.

“Listen closely… This beast will attempt to strike the barrier…”

As the voice spoke, Benny could see the beast readying itself for another strike.

“…but when it does it will be blasted away once more…”

The beast was growling in a way that it sent cold shivers up Benny’s spine.

“When that happens the barrier will fade away…”

“Y-you’re kidding me, right?”

“No, I’m not. But that’s the moment when you have to run! Do not falter! Just run!”

Benny nods to the disembodied voice.

He stands up to his feet and braces himself, ready to make a break for it.

The cat monster again growls loudly and pounces on the barrier with its large claws. Upon contact, once again it was thrown away like a rag doll!

The barrier had disappeared completely!

“NOW! RUN!”

Benny ran like he had never run before!

***

Tenryu had just finished “bandaging” his “patient.”

“There! Now that wasn’t so bad?” Tenryu grinned at the animal before him.

In an honest opinion, it would’ve been better off if Tenryu had left it alone. Now it looked like a huge, badly-wrapped Christmas present with a bow on top.

“Been a pleasure doing business with you!” says Tenryu as he saluted it before going on his way.

He did fail to see the Pufferwarthog’s expression of relief on seeing the back of him!

Tenryu walked on forward deeper into the forest. He took out his compass to see where he had to go next. From the position of the direction ring and the needle, the compass was still pointing to the same direction as before.

“Blistering blitzes of infernos!” cries Tenryu in frustration.

He shakes the compass again! But still it points at the same direction.

“What exactly are you pointing at? I want out of here and you’re pointing me to the middle of-”

Suddenly to Tenryu’s surprise, the needle began to change. Unlike before the movement was more prominent now! It was now moving as though whatever the needle was pointing was moving!

“What the blitz?” Tenryu looked up to where the needle was pointing. “There must be something there!”

Suddenly he could hear a voice calling out!

“HELP!!!” someone yelled, “SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!”

The voice was coming from the same direction as the needle!

Tenryu knew then that the needle wasn’t playing tricks on him! Someone was in the forest and they needed help!

He quickly sprinted towards the voice.

Tenryu sliced through some vines that tried to grab and entangle him (some plants here are carnivorous.) He kept going to where the voice was yelling

“HELP!!!” screamed the voice again. The yelling was getting louder now!

Tenryu ran until he saw a break in the trees. He found himself in atop a hill overlooking a section of the forest.

“HELP!!!” screams someone again, “SOMEBODY!!!”

Tenryu scans for the source of the voice and there he sees a boy being chased by Striped Saber-toothed Tiger-Leopard!

But Tenryu couldn’t believe his eyes!

It was that boy!

The boy who appeared in his dreams! Even though his face wasn’t clear but he remembered that black hair, glasses and weird clothes.

As the shock wore off, he knew he had to act fast! The animal chasing him were known to prey on humans! They are usually no problem if one has a weapon to fend them off. But from the looks of it that boy was clearly no fighter or even armed for that matter! Which was weird considering nobody was stupid enough to be venturing around the Marble Forest.

Apart from Tenryu, though he hasn’t realized it himself yet.

Tenryu quickly skidded down the side of the hill and ran as fast as he could. He clenches his fist as they burst into flames! As the beast leapt onto the air and made another attempt to pounce on the running boy, Tenryu leapt into the air at the same time! In a split moment they looked like they were about to collide!

When suddenly Tenryu his body and punched it hard in the face! The huge cat was caught completely off-guard as it was soon sent flying through a tree! The Saber-toothed Tiger-Leopard tried to get up but Tenryu loomed over it with his flaming sword on hand!

“If you don’t want me to make fur coat of you, get lost!” he growled at it, looking more menacing than the cat.

The tiger transformed from a menacing predator into a little kitten. The tiger must’ve realized this kid wasn’t like the other. This guy could do worse than what it could do.

And just like that the huge tiger melted away into the forest, with its tail between its legs!

Tenryu sheathed his sword and dusted off his hands.

“Well, that takes care of that overgrown rodent! You don’t have to worry now I’ve taken care of that-”

Tenryu looks towards the boy he had just saved…only he wasn’t there!

The boy was still running as though he had never noticed that the beast chasing him was already gone!

“Hey! Wait! Stop!” yelled Tenryu, as he chased after him.

***

Benny knew that cat beast was still chasing after him!

His thoughts were so clouded with panic and confusion that he couldn’t pay attention to where he was going! He nearly tripped on some roots, fought his way through some bushes and dodged below beneath some low growing branches. Breathing heavily, Benny didn’t know which direction he was going.

He only just wanted to get away.

Of course running around in the forest wasn’t exactly the best decision. This forest wasn’t even a normal forest at that.

Benny kept encountering weird forest plants that earlier had fascinated him but now scared him out of his wits! This did not help when they prove to be quite hazardous!

There were huge, trumpet-like flowers blowing ear-splitting music!

Benny then bumped onto mushrooms the size of cars and he was bounced around like pinball! After he was thrown out of the clusters of mushroom he wound up landing right in front of thorny plants that shot their spikes like deadly arrows! (Benny was able to duck away behind a rock to avoid getting hit.)

As soon as the plant ran out of its “ammo” he made a brake for it!

The plants were the least of his problems. Considering he was encountering even more bizarre animals! Apart from the beast that he thought was still chasing him, there were apparently even more weird animals around this crazy forest! He passed by a deer with flowers growing out of its antlers. He freaked out by the sight of a huge fly the size of a parrot. And when he passed underneath some branches, a flock of rabbit-eared owls hanging upside-down like a bat were spooked and they flew off in hordes.

This only served to cause Benny to panic even more! He ran disoriented and unaware of where he was going.

“This must be some weird dream!” Benny muttered underneath his breath.

Benny hoped for the voice to guide him but there was no such. Why did he listen to that in the first place?

“Please wake me up! Please wake me up-Uwah!”

The next thing he knew, Benny felt his foot step on nothing and began tumbling down! He hadn’t realized he had reached a steep slope! He yelled as tumbled over rocks and roots until finally, he reached the bottom and fell flat on his face in the dirt.

“Why is this happening to me?” he sobbed on the ground.

Suddenly, a faint rustle came from a bush.

Benny looked up, frozen as fear had completely gripped him. His eyes were closed tightly as the bushes rustled. Soon he braced for what was coming out of there expecting it to be another huge monster but then….he heard soft patting of little feet.

At first, Benny wondered why a monster would make such light footsteps.

Curiosity got the better of him and he opened his eyes. He was face-to-face of small little fuzzy creature. Benny sat up with a sigh of relief, clutching his chest. Okay, not the kind of thing he was expecting but for some reason this was a slight cliché.

“Okay, calm down… Everything’s weird, so let’s not make it worse…”

The little furry animal made some weird noises. He looked down at it cautiously. It looked like a rabbit mixed with an armadillo.

“Maybe I have overreacted a bit. I mean you looked like you wouldn’t hurt a fly…”

The little animal wiggled its nose.

“Great now I’m talking to some hybrid creature. And I was expecting some huge, saber tooth monster with claws…”

A loud roar erupted. And out of the bushes jumped out a huge fanged monster: the mother Rabbit-Armadillo!

“IT’S HERE!” Benny screamed, feeling his hair spiking up in fear.

The mother Rabbit-Armadillo had its teeth bared at him and let out another roar. It was by far the most frightening thing Benny has ever seen in his life! More than that Saber-toothed tiger from before! Its eyes were as red as fire. It had sharp teeth and tusks the size of his leg. Not to mention its hackles were spiking up!

The little Rabbit-Armadillo hopped away, going behind its mother.

Benny felt himself shaking, unable to move as the huge monster slowly made its way toward him. He then remembered that he was still holding the book! Benny quickly held it out in front of him, wishing that the barrier would appear again!

But no such thing happened!

“Please! Help me out!” Benny says to the book.

Nothing…

Benny quickly opened it and scanned for a spell that can keep that beast away. The Rabbit-Armadillo roared angrily as it pounced! Benny yelled instinctively raising his free arm to shield himself. Although he knew that it was most likely to be chewed up instead (with him along with it!)

If this was the end for him, he was wishing that it would be quick.

Just when he thought it was it for him something else had leapt out of the bushes and knocked the beast away!

“Finally found ya!”

Tenryu had just entered the fray!

***

To Benny’s utter astonishment, there before him was a boy holding a flaming katana sword!

“Flame Dragon Style: Blitz Fang Blade!”

The next thing Benny knew the whole place was covered in flames!

“Flames?!” says Benny, shielding his eyes from the fierce intensity of the fire.

There was a loud yelp and as soon as the flames disappeared. A lone boy stood in the middle.

Benny was stunned speechless!

Here was the boy whom the voice told him to look for! The boy with a flaming sword! But it wasn’t his sudden, timely appearance or the flaming sword that caught his attention (well, maybe it did) but it was that this boy looked exactly like the one in his dreams! He even had the same voice!

The monster growled as it made another attempt to swipe at him! Benny wanted to yell for the boy to look out but the boy nimbly leapt away every time the beast tried to strike!

Whoa, he’s fast! Benny thought.

As the beast slashed the ground on his feet, the boy managed to avoid another strike by somersaulting into the air and landed a few feet away from his foe.

Tenryu quickly pointed his sword straight at the beast’s snout, “Flame Dragon Style: Blitz Strike!”

To Benny’s awe, the sword sent flaming bullets that struck the beast in the face! But then the monster curled up into a giant armored ball which shielded itself from his attacks!

“Blistering Blazes!” growls Tenryu, “Curled in your little ball again? Well, I’m not going to fall for that trick this time!”

Tenryu’s grip tightened on the hilt and he charged.

Just as he was about to strike, the Rabbit-Armadillo uncurled itself and swiped its giant claws at the boy.

“Watch out!” Benny yelled.

Tenryu managed to skid to a stop and held his sword in a defensive position! The sword had barely managed to catch the claws of beast on the blade just before it struck him. But when the Rabbit-Armadillo drew its arm its claws were still hooked to the sword. Tenryu lost his grip on the hilt and the sword was sent flying. It got pinned like a dart to a tree!

“Oh blitz!” cursed Tenryu.

He saw the glint of Rabbit-Armadillo’s eye as it made another swipe at him!

The boy managed to leap away but lost his footing and fell back downwards. Seeing its foe down the Rabbit-Armadillo bared its teeth and made its stride towards the stirring boy!

On Tenryu’s end, he managed to get on his knees and sees the beast moving towards him with the intent to kill radiating from it. His sword still pinned to the tree a distance away.

“I guess I have no choice but to use the back up!”

Tenryu clenched his fist with the intent to activate his magic gloves.

At that moment, Benny was completely unaware of the boy’s back up weapons. All he could see was a defenseless kid about to be mauled! His gripped on the book tightened.

“Go away!” Benny yelled.

Suddenly, the book in his arms started to glow again! A huge wave of energy exploded from the book!

Both the beast and the kid were caught by the shockwave!

Benny was sent flying as well and the book fell to the ground! Tenryu was knocked backward to another tree! While the huge monster was blasted far, far away and landed quite a long distance from them.

After a few moments, all of them were all dazed by the sudden burst. Benny sat up with his head pounding. His glasses were knocked askew. Tenryu tried to get up, completely dizzy. As soon as Tenryu manages to snap out of it he sees the Rabbit-Armadillo running away with its young bringing up the rear.

“Blistering Blazes!” curses the Tenryu, stamping his foot in frustration, “Got away again!”

Benny watches him still a little shaken. As soon as that beast was gone, his attention was soon drawn to his rescuer.

The boy’s back was facing him but Benny remembered that auburn-red hair that was strangely the same shade as some members of his family have. It was sticking up at top of his head giving a look like his head was also on fire. He also had a shank of long hair tied into a pony tail. The boy was wearing the strangest set of clothes like he was someone cosplaying an anime character from a TV show.

Even though the voice said this guy was supposed to help him, Benny couldn’t help but feel rather fearful.

Tenryu approaches the tree where his sword was and yanks it out, “Can’t believe I lost my grip…what a rookie mistake.”

As Tenryu was grumbling, Benny was still staring at him.

“Um…excuse me…” Benny mumbled but stopped.

For a splitting second, Benny thought he saw a strange red glow enveloping the boy but it then disappeared as soon as appeared.

What was that? Benny thought.

Tenryu wanted to chase after that dinner wrecker but the person on the ground was his priority.

“You okay? The Rabbit-Armadillo didn’t do anything right?” he says as he turns to face him.

“I-I’m fine! Thanks for saving-”

It was then that both of them got a good look at each other. Both boys stared at each other for moment and at the top of their voices they both yelled, pointing at each other!

“YOU’RE ME??!!”

Benny felt everything spinning…

“Hey! You okay?!”

Even thought the voice told him not to pass out, the next thing Benny knew: he did pass out.

“Hey!”

The boy rushed towards his side. Benny saw a strange red haze covering the boy once more before his consciousness faded to black.

***

A few hours later…

Benny felt his head aching as he regained consciousness.

At first, he thought everything that just happened was a dream. He was lying on something soft so he assumed to have been rescued from his ordeal and was now lying on a hospital bed.

But something was definitely off.

The bed was albeit uncomfortable and there wasn’t even a blanket. In fact, the hospital room seemed albeit strange too. There wasn’t any air conditioning or that air freshener scent that hospital rooms usually have. And there was some kind of fire burning.

Who burns fire in a hospital room? Benny thought.

He couldn’t see clearly as someone had taken off his glasses. But it was obvious to him that this was no hospital room.

“Oh! So you’re finally up!” said a familiar, rather husky voice.

Someone had approached him. Even with his blurry vision and the dim light, the person’s features seemed familiar.

“Where’re my glasses?”

“You mean these?” the person laughed, “I thought only old guys and those people at the Magistrate used these things but here you go!”

Benny felt something placed in his hands and he knew that these were his glasses. As soon as he puts them on everything comes into focus.

In front of him was a red-haired boy!

“Aahhh!!!” yelled Benny, pointing at Tenryu. “It’s you! I mean me! I mean…”

To make him stop Tenryu had karate-chopped him in the head, “It’s rude to point you know!”

“Ow!” Benny rubbed the top of his head, “S-sorry…It’s just…”

Even though his head was throbbing he was still ogling at the boy in front of him.

“Yeah, I know right?” Tenryu looks at Benny closely. Maybe a little too close, as they were practically nose-to-nose, “I mean look at you! You look exactly like me!”

It was Benny’s turn to frown.

“I wouldn’t say exactly…” he says as he adjusted his glasses.

“Hmm…you’re right. I guess ‘almost’ is the right word for it! We’re still a whole lot different!”

Tenryu finally backed away and plopping on the ground in front of him.

After that the two boys fell silent.

This was very awkward situation to Benny. It was shocking to find the boy that kept appearing in his dreams actually existed. And even more so to find that not only he existed but the boy had the similar face as he does! But now that Benny got a good look there were still a lot of differences.

For one, Tenryu had a wild appearance to him.

His spiky, auburn-red hair was styled in a way that it looked like his head was on fire. He kept some strands hair into a ponytail. Benny would never have his hair set like that. He had a tanned complexion which probably meant he was out under the sun a lot. And when the boy grinned at him, he had some rather sharp canines that only enhanced his wild appearance.

But it was the eyes that caught Benny’s attention.

Tenryu’s eyes were dark brown that had a rather fierce and brave-looking gleam to him. But there was strange familiarity in them that Benny couldn’t put where.

Unknown to Benny, Tenryu was also feeling the same sense of awkwardness but was keeping it behind a well-practiced poker face.

He was sure that this was the boy he kept seeing in his dreams! One that had tall buildings that seemed to be made of glass and weird forms of transportation. But the boy’s sudden appearance and the fact that his compass pointed directly to his location was still mysterious as the appearance of Aurora last night. But the biggest surprise was seeing that the kid who was always blurry in the face, turned out to have the same face as he does!

Despite that, however, Benny still looked rather…average.

Benny’s hair was black with a strange indigo-tint. It was spiky but it was still neat-looking (even though it had a bit of sand in it.) His skin was lighter than his. He was also wearing some strange set of clothes. Behind those huge glasses were eyes that were wider and more relaxed than his were. They emanated a sense of comfort. Those deep blue eyes seemed oddly familiar and nostalgic. Tenryu couldn’t point out why.

Tenryu felt as though he should know this guy’s name but it was like it was on the tip of his tongue. Strange enough, Benny was the one who broke that introductory question first.

“So, um…can I know what your name is?”

“Ah! Yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. The name is Tenryu Fyreroar by the way!”

Benny found that hard to pronounce, “Well, nice to meet you Mr. Fyreroar.”

Tenryu flinched, “Blistering Blazes! That’s way too formal! Just call me Tenryu!”

Benny quickly backtracked, “Oh, sorry, Tenryu is it?”

“That’s my name!”

Finally knowing who this boy was gave a sort of a feeling of accomplishment to Benny.

“And you are?”

“Oh, right, I’m Benjamin. Benjamin Estrella. But people just call me Benny.”

“Nice to meet you, Benny!” says Tenryu as he grabs Benny’s hand and shakes a little too roughly. So much that Benny’s arm felt like jelly after he’d let go.

“Hey, so… um… Where are we?” Benny asked him taking a look of their surroundings.

From the looks of it they were inside a huge hollow of a tree. Benny could see a large fire burning merrily in the center.

“Marble Forest, where else?” says Tenryu with a grin. Those sharp canines of his had really unnerved Benny.

“Marble Forest?” repeats Benny.

He has never heard of a place like that before.

“Yup!” nods Tenryu, evidently chuckling at Benny’s weird accent on the name.

“Um…where’s my bag?”

“There right beside you! You dropped your book by the way!”

Tenryu handed him the large Spellbook which Benny quickly took it back and breathed of relief.

“Strange though, I’d never thought I’d see someone chased by a Saber-toothed Tiger-Leopard. Say, what were you doing wandering around the forest in the first place?”

This was a big problem.

After all those close encounters this morning, it was obvious to Benny that wherever he was, as unbelievable, amazing and completely ridiculous as the idea was: this wasn’t Earth anymore. Even though he himself wasn’t completely sure of it…no wait, Benny saw first-hand that flaming thing Tenryu did with his sword so that pretty much squashed any doubt he had.

But he can’t just blab that whole truth. He wasn’t even sure how this kid was going to react if he learns that Benny is probably from another world.

“I…got lost…” Benny admitted, trying to keep a simple and understandable answer yet still vague.

Tenryu crossed his arms and turning a critical eye on him. Benny flinched, seeing that expression in a face similar to his.

“That’s pretty obvious but how did you get in this forest in the first place?”

“I just wondered around and got lost…”

But from Tenryu’s expression, he was not at all convinced.

“Oh, really?” he says, taking a long sniff at Benny (much to his discomfort.) “Why do you smell like a sundried fish?”

Like a sundried fish? Benny sniffed his own clothes. It did smell like seawater and salt bleached under the sun.

Benny glanced back at Tenryu, who was clearly waiting for an answer. It was pretty clear this kid is not going to let up. But still Benny knew he had to keep some details hidden so he decided to tell part of the truth.

After all, Tenryu did save him. So he at least owes him that…

“Alright…I was out on a boat with when we got caught by a storm-”

The reaction from Tenryu was the very least thing he had expected. His tanned skin seemed to have paled a bit. And he was shivering all over. He looked as though he were about to puke.

“Are you okay? You look a little sick!” says Benny concerned by Tenryu’s reaction.

“I don’t like those things!” murmurs Tenryu.

“‘Things?’” repeated Benny, looking confused, “What are you-”

“You know! Those things you mentioned, floating on the water!”

Benny stopped and started to piece together his observation.

“Hang on, you mean boats?”

“I’m not afraid of boats!” Tenryu yelled out so loud that Benny winced.

He had to cover his ears because Tenryu’s voice was so loud! It was probably ten times louder than a sound projected by a huge amplifier in a rock concert!

“I never said you were! Seriously…You have quite the volume!”

“It’s not those things themselves. Well, maybe a bit… But that’s not the reason why I don’t like them! It’s just…I just don’t like the thought of riding them!”

“Oh, so you mean riding the boat? You get seasick?”

“Blistering Blazes, will you shut it?!”

Benny knew he had hit the nail on the head.

“Sorry about that, I was just checking…”

Benny on the other hand was finding this quite hilarious but he tried to keep his mouth shut from laughing. He had to because Tenryu looked as though he wanted to deck him. Tenryu took a deep breath and that seemed to have calmed him down. Tenryu clearly has a high sense of pride and if being seasick shows he has a weakness is a big blow to his self-esteem.

“I don’t ride those death traps. Especially in a storm! It’s no wonder you’re all beaten up! Were they anybody else in there with you?”

That laughing feeling quickly disappeared. All the pain Benny felt this morning came back to him.

“…I was all alone…” Benny’s voice trembled.

“It’s okay…” says Tenryu, suddenly realizing that he might have treaded on a sore subject, “You don’t need to explain. I think I got the picture.”

Listening at tragedies wasn’t really his thing. He didn’t know how to react appropriately for it.

“What about your family? Don’t they know if you’re alright?”

From the look of Benny’s face, Tenryu had stepped on another landmine.

Benny felt as though he had run into a wall. Now that he thought about it, if his assumption is correct, he is in another world. Then it’s obvious that his family was back at home in a different world! Not just his family but everyone he knew! This meant that he was really, truly alone…

“I’m…all alone…I lost…everything…” Benny’s voice shook.

He wasn’t actually saying this to Tenryu but he simply voiced out the thought in his head. Unfortunately, saying it was actually more painful than expected.

“Oh! Um, sorry to hear that…” Tenryu said, awkwardly.

Tenryu knew that he wasn’t good with these types of conversations. And he cursed himself for stupidly making it worse for this guy. He tried his best to find the right words to say.

“It’s a hard thing to lose the people you care about, and then this happens.”

Tenryu probably mistook his words and thought he was an orphan in accident.

From his situation he might as well be…

“So what are you going to do now?”

“I…don’t really know…”

Benny felt the whole weight of his situation slowly crushing him! He was all alone in weird world! He had no one to turn to… No one to seek help… He doesn’t even know how things work in this world! How can he hope to survive? Today just proved it!

“Why don’t you hang with me for a while?” says Tenryu in a kinder tone.

Benny stared at him shock. He had momentarily forgotten about Tenryu.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious that you’re in a pinch and I’m not just going to leave you when you’re like that! So why don’t you stay at my place for a while?”

“N-no…I couldn’t! I don’t want to be a burden to you or your family.”

“What other choice do you have then? Do you know anyone who can help you out?”

Tenryu was right. If Benny just went on his own way, he wouldn’t survive past a day. And Tenryu could help him for a bit. It was then, Benny remembered the voice.

Look for the boy with a sword of fire…he will help you…

The boy was here right now! He just saved him and was offering to help.

“Well…Thank you…” Benny says quietly.

“Great! And don’t worry about being a bother to my family. They’re pretty much used to guests and they’re nice people.”

“What do you mean?”

But Tenryu already stood up and walked towards the fire. He pulled out something from the flames. It was a pair of sticks, each had some kind of fish skewered and grilled on it. A delicious smell was wafting through Benny’s nose and his mouth began to water.

“Are you hungry? Good thing, I found a stream nearby! These are quite the delicacy! Here!”

Tenryu gave him a stick of….

As soon as Benny saw what was on it, he nearly dropped the stick in revulsion. It was a fish that had legs like a salamander! It even had a long salamander-like tongue lolling out! If Benny could take a guess, this must’ve come from a radioactive river! Disgust was clearly evident in his face, because Tenryu asked him if he was alright.

“You okay? You look like you have a stomachache.”

“Umm…what is this supposed to be?”

Tenryu looked surprised at his question, “Can’t you recognize it?”

“Err…no…”

“Blistering Blazes, these are Newt-Fishes! Restaurants pay good money to buy these!”

That still didn’t make any difference. To Benny, this thing was clearly inedible just by its appearance.

“No thanks, I’m good-” but to Benny’s dismay, his stomach started to ache and growling.

“Unless I’m mistaken, that means you’re hungry!” Tenryu smirks at him, taking another bite,

Now that he thought about it, he hasn’t eaten since yesterday. Benny was already famished…and despite its unappealing looks, it does smell good.

“You sure you don’t want a bite?” Tenryu said, having already took a big bite, “I’ll eat it all if you don’t want it-”

Benny had no choice. His instinct took over and before he knew it he sunk his teeth on the flesh. To his utter surprise, it tasted quite good! It tasted a lot like wood-plank cooked salmon!

“You look like you enjoyed that!”

“It’s really good!”

“Well, don’t be shy! I caught a bunch more!”

Eating a couple was enough to satisfy him. Benny had managed to satisfy his hunger, though Tenryu had wound up gobbling several more helpings. Benny did not complain. The so-called Newt-fish still looked unappealing to him. Despite that, Benny has never seen something that looked so weird tasted so good.

After the meal, both boys sat beside the campfire and chatted.

Tenryu rubbed his belly, which was now twice the size before they started eating.

“Now that was some good eats!”

“You have quite the appetite!” Benny chuckled with a sweatdrop.

“Well, Magma-tia did always say that. I once gobbled up entire all-you-can-eat. That’s probably why I was banned from that restaurant in Jadefir Town.”

Benny snorted in laughter. Whether Tenryu was serious or not, that was funny. Tenryu thought so too as he was grinning back at him.

“Who’s Magma-tia? Is she your aunt?” Benny asked, finally hiccupping himself to sense.

“Yeah, she’s my great-aunt. She’s called Aunt Magma to everyone. She’s the one who take care of us since my sister and I were little…”

“Oh? You have a sister?”

“Fare-ate...She helps Magma-tia out, cleans the house and often gives me a hard time when I step out of the line.”

Benny gave him a warm smile, “They must be wonderful.”

“They sure are. They’re a lot tougher than they looks Magma-tia once snapped the leg of a bandit who tried to rob her in the market.”

Upon hearing that, the image Benny painted of Tenryu’s aunt changed somewhat. He now imagined her to be sweet-looking elderly lady holding a sledge hammer behind her back.

“Wow…”

“And Flare-ate…she threw a group of drunkards into the river canal when they tried to harass her.” Tenryu snickered.

An image of a huge, pro-wrestler woman beating up a group of drunkards popped up.

“That sound’s…amazing too…”

“But my dad is probably the most amazing guy out there!” says Tenryu with sudden fervor.

Benny looks at him, “Your dad?”

“He’s taken down Class-A monsters and whole bandit guilds just like that!” Tenryu snapped his finger to emphasize that.

What kind of family does this kid have? Benny thought to himself.

Benny was pretty sure that if his Dad would meet Tenryu he’d be writing up a restraining order. Tenryu would definitely fall into the category of the peers you should avoid at all costs. This guy spells trouble. But for some reason, Benny was more interested about this guy than afraid.

“So what does your dad do? He’s an explorer or something?”

“He explores…well, wanders around more like it. Like an idiot bum that he is!” laughed Tenryu, although he sounded wistful. “I haven’t seen in for years now and who knows where he is… But whenever he shows up we train together day and night!”

“Yeah, I’m sort of jealous… My dad never gave me the time of the day even when he was still around…Ah!” Benny was surprised those words came out of him suddenly. “Never mind…”

Tenryu gave him a long look before he snorted, “Well, let’s not dwell in the past!” he says before he plops down on the ground, “You better get some sleep! We have a long walk tomorrow!”

“R-right!” says Benny, taking this was the end of their conversation, “Well, good night!”

Benny lay down his head.

It was incredibly uncomfortable to sleep on the ground but he noticed that he was lying on a pile of leaves. Tenryu must’ve made a makeshift bed for him. Benny stares at Tenryu’s sleeping form.

Despite his rather wild background, he’s a pretty nice guy…

“Oh, um…thank you for saving me. I really appreciate it.”

But it seemed that Tenryu was already fast asleep. So Benny just rolled on his side and fell asleep.

Unknown to Benny, Tenryu was still awake with his back turned to him.

To Tenryu, that was the first time someone actually appreciated his effort.