BOOK 1, CHAPTER 11 – A Mother’s Worries

“Hiss-s.” She sighed, watching the two youngsters sleep side-by-side.

They had grown close. As close as real siblings can get. Though, being a magic beast made it different. Once Little Green entered the wide world she was going to find it harder. A magic beast, bonded or not, would always be looked down on.

The bond they established had the power to see them through everything together. There was no hiding secrets. They had the luxury to rely on each other without worry. Through the most questionable times, they had each other.

Little Green woke, yawned, and then went back to sleep.

She smiled down at her daughter. Her last offspring. Her only offspring – ever. Little Green was the proof she had been alive. Little Green’s future, alone, was threatened with never-ending, bloody fighting until death. With a companion her future changed to a brighter one.

Little Green’s companion… She turned her serpentine eyes to the boy. He was small. Scrawny. Naive and inexperienced. To the other side, he showed much promise.

“Full of surprises.” She softly said. She smiled, feeling some hope for them. “Divinity.” He wasn’t very strong. Yet. How his body improved and naturally absorbed the mana in the surroundings.

She looked down at him, her eyes glowing cold as her mana scanned him. She looked from his flesh, to his mana and soul. Her eyes widened and she looked closely. As she watched, she witnessed what only high-level elves could do.

“Sleep meditation. Mana growth while breathing.” She said, surprised. Her hope rose. She looked at his flesh to the very cell, seeing them full of life and vigor.

Such young and bright talent! He was more promising then a divine magic beast. What did his own future hold? Little Green might not be able to keep up. This, she’d have to fix this gap.

“How.” She hissed unhappily. There were a few tricks. Most methods would take too long.

She scrambled through her memories. A seal? No, that would bind her own talent. Magic Beast cores – she’d already eaten all of her siblings and the surrounding magic beasts already. It would be difficult to find enough to continue to improve from that alone.

No matter how hard she thought, her mind remained unhelpful. She flexed out of frustration. Her wounds sent pain signals and she winced. “Hiss-s.”

There wasn’t much time left. Moving simply increased the speed of her death. She had to stay as long as possible to ensure Little Green’s survival. At this rate, they might not be able to escape the white ape’s reach. She had to strengthen both youngsters as much as possible.

There was no choice. The materials Little Green and the young boy had readily available of high quality nearby was one source. She herself was a Beast King! No better resources to build a strong foundation with. She was also a divine magic beast’s descendent. With this, her choice was clear.

Her attention returned to the present as the youngsters stirred. She looked at them both lovingly. This moment forward they were both her children. She felt determination and pride swell. One thousand years of bitter survival and cultivation, she would pour it all into them!

As the two stretched and began the first few strings of true understanding, she pushed her head a bit closer. Both children quieted, looking over. She smiled. The boy was nervous. She didn’t need to taste the air to tell.

“Boy, come here.” She said.

He stood, walking carefully within his limited view. She felt a small twinge of guilt as he stopped before her. “Y-yes?”

“I have realized, we have not properly introduced ourselves. This seems inappropriate.” She lowered her head a bit. “I am Seora.”

“Hello. I am Artien Astral.”

She tasted the air, getting bewilderment and surprise from him. “Hiss-ss-ss. Ar-ti-en” She pronounced. “Nice to meet you.”

He fidgeted, unsure. He nodded his head at her. “Nice to meet you.” It came out more as a question than a greeting.

Little Green raced over, climbing up to curl around his arm. He started automatically stroking her head. Her eyes squinted as she voiced her approval. Seora felt her heart grow warm.

“Sit. There is a few things you need to know.”

Artien took two steps back, then sat cross-legged. Little Green moved to his lap and curled up.

“Listen carefully,” Seora began. “My life will end soon.”

Little Green immediately grew panicked. “Mother!” Her mana reached out.

“Silence!” Her mother hissed warningly. Little Green curled back in shock. “Listen. Do not interrupt.”

“When I am gone, you both must be strong enough to leave here. That stupid ape will no doubt go after you. He will not immediately attack. My poison will take time to heal. I will assist you until the time comes to face him.”

The atmosphere in the cave room grew with an air of urgency. Her tone underlined the urgency, giving added effect. Both Artien and Little Green felt it, growing serious.

“Firstly, you both will learn to communicate through mana until it has no effect on your daily life. Start conversing.” She specifically turned to Artien. “When you feel confident of this, let me know. I will rest until you are ready for the next step. Communication will improve your chances outside.”

Artien nodded. “I’ll work hard!”

“Good.”

Seora turned her head into the maze of tunnels her children had created. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She pulled mana inside, turning it into fuel to last a little bit longer. The longer she delayed her death, the better their chances. She cleared her mind, focusing on only prolonging life.

Artien and Little Green started talking. At first only a few words got through. Artien used his connection with Little Green to gain a basic understanding. As they practiced, more words made sense.

They started with greetings and basic necessities. Little Green told him her schedule. Artien told her about his clothing and what he preferred to eat. From that, their words grew into sentences. It wasn’t long before Artien learned he had been eating fresh rat meat.

He grimaced, completely and utterly disgusted. “Why rat meat?!”

Little Green ‘shrugged’ with her body. “Only here, rats.”

He understood. Without going outside, there was just moss, bugs, and rats in the caves. The meal was the best around. “Sorry. Thank you for feeding me.”

Little Green inquired about his home. He told her about the village. How he had grown up. His parents and the farm. About the bullies. When he got to that part, Little Green picked up on the deep anger.

“Why angry?” She asked.

“Well, you see…”

He told her about the elf and mercenaries. How they had come chasing the traces of a demon. They had accused him. His family and friends had defended him, but the bullies had convinced the elf he was a demon spawn. How they had taken him away and he’d escaped.

“That’s when your mom picked me up. She really saved my life.” He said.

“Saved your life?”

“Yep. She’s smart, you know. She knew what she was doing when she did. She was battling that white monkey at the same time.” He stopped, thinking it over. He rubbed his face, feeling the faint scars. “She knew what she was doing.” He whispered.

“My mom’s smart!” Little Green agreed. “White monkey is dumb! Mom will win next time.”

Artien laughed, rubbing her head. “She will win next time, easy.”

He grew solemn. “Still, we have to be ready. Let’s practice more. What do you want to talk about now?”

“Tell me about outside!” Little Green asked excitedly.

“That’s a lot. I’ve read plenty I can tell you about.” Artien started.

In this way, they restricted themselves to only talking back and forth besides eating and sleeping. Artien put effort into learning the beast language quickly. He stopped his meditation entirely. With the constant talking back and forth, seven days passed.

Artien addressed Seora. “I think I’m good.”

“Yes! What next, mother?” Little Green asked.

“Done, are you?” Seora moved her face into the room. “Then we will move forward. Artien, come close to me.”

He moved to within a foot of her face. Up close, her scales glittered beautifully in his Divine Eyes vision.

“Place your hand on me. Do not resist what happens.” She instructed.

Artien took a deep breath, then placed a hand on one of the giant scales. The scale was large, twice wider than his shoulders were across. That was just one scale!

A glimmer hovered over the scales. Mana entered him through his hand. It tunneled through his body, then headed towards his face. He felt it gather there. He winced, feeling an itchy, burning sensation.

The mana pushed and pulled, excreting through his eyes like purple tears. The tears burned as soon as they touched the air, eaten by the remaining mana. A few tears exited before the itchy and burning feeling stopped. The mana vanished the way it had come. He rubbed his face, real tears coming out.

After he finished rubbing, he looked around. Shock struck him. All around him appeared as normal. “My eyes! You fixed them.” His eyes squinted, adjusting back to normal. The mana flow ceased, glowing and glimmering gold vanishing.

He blinked. With a thought, Divine Eyes reactivated. The two visions overlapped, showing a glittering world. “Wow.”

“Now you are ready.” Seora said. “You may go outside and hunt.” She turned to little Green. “Guide him outside.”

“Outside!” Little Green bounced excitedly.

“Return in three days. We will do this in sequence. Three days outside to hunt. Three days here to strengthen.” Seora tilted her head, creating an opening underneath. “Little Green, take Artien to the weapons. Let him choose one. Take some supplies with you as well.”

Little Green wrapped around Artien’s hand, leading the way. They made their way back to the treasure room and around the edge to the weapon and piles of different items. Artien looked at the mounds and gulped. “We should split up here.”

He looked around until he found a good sized pack he could carry on his back. He opened it and placed it by the walkway’s wall. He looked at Little Green. “You fill this with things we might need outside while I get a weapon.”

“Okay!” She moved swiftly, leaping off his hand and flying to the floor. She scurried to the first pile of potions, diving in.

“Pfft!” Artien huffed, trying to keep from laughing.

He moved to his first pile. At first glance, the weapons looked junky and rusted. He peered closer, keeping to the edge. With his Divine Eyes, he could see some of the weapons contained magic. A small stream of mana was drawn into the pile. Something inside was devouring mana.

He carefully picked through the pile. He set aside the weapons, making a whole new pile of picked-through. He found swords of all shapes and sizes. There were spears, axes, bows, daggers, and more.

As he got deeper into the pile, the mana was sucked faster. Without so much obstruction, he easily targeted the direction of the source. He went through a few more weapons before a gleam caught his eye. He removed a chipped, eroded axe head. Underneath a piece of leather shined.

He gently pulled it out and took a good look. A pair of gloves. They were made of some kind of scaled leather. Black and thickened at the knuckles. Mana was drawn to the skin of the gloves and absorbed. He looked inside, seeing a strange symbol carved.

The symbol glittered at him. “Magic language.” He said, remembering the truth of magic. Entranced, he slipped the gloves on.

The gloves shuddered, suddenly shrinking. He winced, feeling pressure tighten around his hands. The gloves constricted, using crushing force. He fought back, flooding his hands with mana. The gloves sensed the new force, greedily sucking it in.

At first the gloves drank fast. A short while later they slowed, eventually conforming to his hand’s shape and stilling. Artien looked at the gloves warily. “What kind of spell…”

He shook his head. “Now’s not the time. I’ll save it for later.”

He looked through the pile of clothing next. He found some mana-coated clothing that seemed to repair themselves and stay clean. They were also black in color, making him think they and the gloves might have come from the same owner. Next he looked for some boots.

In the clothes pile he found nothing worthy. Most were either too worn, corroded, or simply didn’t fit. He looked at his own feet. He ended up going to the armor pile. Within he found some high-quality black leather boots. He put them on. With luck, they fit.

Finished, he turned back to the pack and Little Green. His eyes widened, seeing the pack full, closed, and Little Green curled up sleeping on top. He smiled. He poked her, watching her yawn and look at him.

“Time to go?” She asked.

“Time to go.” He said.

“Let’s Go!”

Little Green leaped over to him and curled around his arm. He put the pack on and lifted his hand. “Which way?”