Waking up, hunger dominated my mind. I could say it burned but it was more of a sizzling that raced across the wall of my stomach. It hurt, no other word could describe it. It was just pain. Standing up I barely noticed the ashes of the note falling out of my hair. Briefly looking at where I had laid my silhouette had been scorched into the stone. Not just scorching it seemed as if the ground around me had melted.

Every inch of my body, down to the cells of my muscles, felt energized. They were buzzing. They were trembling. They were hungry. Restraining the animalistic desire to rush out and grab whatever laid nearest to the entrance proved increasingly difficult. Opening the slab to reveal a sliver of light in I saw rabbits emerging from the ground. First, a red fruit would sprout from the ground soon to be entombed in a writhing mass of vines. Slowly they would contort into a vaguely rabbit-like shape and inch near the iridescent lake. My anticipation to satiate this hunger was palpable as sparks lunged out from me towards them, turning spots of grass into ash. Each time a spark leaped I felt a tug at my mind.

Pulling the slab out of the way felt like nothing now. As my first step landed my heart stopped beating. After a moment of hesitation, it jolted back to life. My body dashed out without my saying so. I was afraid of what was controlling me. But It was exhilarating. It was the best feeling I had ever had. My steps were swift yet struck like cannonballs into the hard stone floor. As if it were my body’s natural state. It was like a dream that I hoped to never wake from.

The thrill of a strange new power and the rush of the hunt. I could see them shudder their vines tensing unnaturally but it wasn’t enough for them. I had grasped one with my right hand rippling with violet arcs and thrown the dagger into another before they hurriedly fled underground, throwing dirt everywhere. A handful were unlucky and showed me the danger of the lake. Splashing up the shimmering water they seemed as if they had been grabbed by the depths themselves. Without realizing it I had eaten both red fruits, they tasted like iron.

‘What the hell am I doing. That could be poison or it could have been a trap. So much power, and it’s mine. No one could stop me right now. I’m being stupid what has gotten into me. Undeniable power that’s what those vulgar humans wouldn’t stand a chance.’

Waves of pain beat against the shores of my mind. Taking my dagger I moved as fast as I could back into my miniature safe room. Barely shutting the door I splayed out on the floor hoping the cold stone would chill the heat mounting in my head. Minutes later I heard what should have been a comfort but turned into the worst outcome. A voice spoke out to me… with hate and ridicule.

“How could a fool like you be allowed to outshine me. ‘Chosen by the tree’ what bullshit. You gave yourself mana poison the first chance you got. You even wasted your aura and what killed two whole paniwaru.” I felt a hand grab my feet and begin dragging me away. “I’ll give you a real challenge and they’ll see it my way. You’re nothing but a weak little mutt. I’ll bet you dream of returning to your human masters”. I could only faintly hear him as he continued rambling as he took me past the lake back into the darkness, deeper into the cavern.

When regaining awareness I had been dropped into yet another sandy pit. Lucky me, he covered it with a thin piece of leather. Guess he didn’t want to take away the hunt from whatever lives here. For all I know he won’t even be punished if I live. While I still couldn’t move I chose to think about aura and magic. I had heard some things about them, I just never thought someone who was a commoner like I was to have access to them. Even if it feels stupid I might as well organize what I know, it isn’t like I have much else to do. It’s not like I know the details of either but I always tried to learn about them.

Aura is like a life force that can be harnessed to strengthen the body. People would say its core was located next to the heart to give a warrior their courage. They say that warriors have extra vitality which they use for it but some people sacrifice years of life for a taste of that strength. Those who master their aura have been known to be able to apply it to the space around them or if using a battle art they may even be able to turn it into an elemental aura.

Magic is more of an enigma to me. From what I know it can be many things but unlike aura, it requires a certain talent for one of its elements. The core of magic for a person forms within the mind, the center of knowledge. Even to the masters magic remains a nebulous artifact of the true gods. Magic is the driving force of wars.

Getting tired of my own rambling since none of it helped me in understanding what he said. I took a peek outside of my tiny pit and bore witness to a large moving boulder. One would only hope that it just happened to look like a bear until its eyes opened showing off mesmerizing amber gemstone eyes. The sound of grinding stone dug into my skull as it sniffed the air. The cave shook. I don't know if I’m in luck or not but this monster seemed scared by it too. Walls creaked and cracked. The stone groaned as a wave of fierce anger flowed into every crevice of the cave. Wind spewed between me and the monster, in a moment a gray-haired demon appeared. With a fluid motion in tune among the violent gusts of air, he hefted an enormous sword in the air and brought it down on the beast. Equal parts crushing and slicing through the stone figure without slowing down or faltering.

I was overwhelmed by the aura as it pressed me to the ground. It was a dominating fear. Struggling to even stay on my hands and knees to not faceplant into the floor. As the pressure eased off and a hand was placed on my shoulder I saw who it was. Anir had come to save me.

“I’ll have to beat Lotir for never giving clear visions. Thank Arrox for your tenacity. Let us go back to the village for now.”