Tenur woke up just to find himself flooded with a sense of vertigo. He tried pushing it away and focus on what's around him, but the feeling eventually overwhelmed him, causing his stomach to churn. Unfortunately —or fortunately in this case— there was nothing in his stomach that could be regurgitated except for some extremely diluted acid. Thus, he recovered with a sour taste lingering in his mouth. Following that, he observed his surroundings. That was when he saw green scrolling pass him, and a net separating him from it all. The net was slightly larger than his body, hence the awkward lying position he had on right now.

He was lying belly first in the net, while his morning wood was sticking out of the spaces between the nylon-like fibers. Both of his hands and legs were tied together behind his back, causing him to look like a human rocking chair if not for the net holding him up from the ground.

Crap, my dick's itching so much right now, if only my hands aren’t tied up.. Aghhhhhhhh...

As if that wasn’t irritating enough, he found himself staring at a green back with tough skin after looking around a little more. At first, he was not sure what to make of it, but when he connected the dots (the green skinned back and the location of his disapperance which was in a deeper part of the forest), it gave him a horrifying revelation: he was captured by a woodland troll. The troll carrying him seemed to notice the slight movement of its prey, so it turned its head back a little to look at him. What met him was a face with crooked but sharp teeth poking out of its mouth. It stared at him briefly before resuming its journey through the forest.

What the fu- Calm the fuck down, boy... breath... breath... Ok, evaluate situation... Kidnapper is a troll, wait, it hasn't eaten me yet.. Huh, why hasn't it eaten me yet? Maybe I'm not delicious? Delicious... Food... Sarah's cooking...

Thinking back a little with drool hanging, he thought of Sarah’s response during that time. It made him snap out of his thoughts when he guessed of the things she would do to him if he didn't escape her grasp that time.

I'd rather be eaten by a troll than accept her punishments...

After contemplating for a while on what to do next, he decided to wait it out and see what comes next. Though, his body was starting to reject the idea due to his uncomfortable posture while lying in the net.

Fuuuuuuuuuckk, back pain.... He was sure he would need to waste some of his parent’s money on hiring a healer in order to heal his back pain, that is, if he even made it out alive.

He thought of what would happen if he was ever found out to be the culprit behind all the unwanted pregnancy cases. Incarceration was bound to happen, while a death sentence was highly possible due to the involvement of both the Elder’s daughters.

Who’s to say that his family would not be executed just because of his somewhat "self-touching" acts?

”Hey troll, can you let me adjust my body posture a b-"

He trailed off at the end of his request when they emerged from the forest to a clearing where dozens of other trolls were working. What shocked him most was not the sheer amount of trolls living within the area, but the very civilization they built themselves. Drains can be found along the stone paths while sturdy houses built with a mix of wood and stone stood neatly beside each other. Alleys, too, can be found separating rows of houses while every corner of the street was sparkling clean. It was as if they were more civilized than humans themselves who raged wars just because of their own greed.

The troll carrying the amazed captive walked on without being bothered by the curious glances given by the troll pedestrians. Then, it turned right and entered the seemingly normal building with its captive. But in reality, the disguised building was an alchemist’s research lab. The lab was well equipped with instruments that deal with both magical and non-magical substances and materials. Among all of the equipments, the ones that seemed to be the most eye catching out of all the other equipments were the essence extractor and mana infuser. Both were large in size and had only a single space that allowed the placement of items, or in this case, a living being.

Tenur instinctively tensed up as knew what was coming, but the fact that he’s going to die from being drained of his essence was something that scared him shitless. The essence of a being allows it to be reincarnated as long as it still exist, but if its used up, a totally different story occurs.

The soul of the being would be sent to oblivion as it would not get recognized by the transmigration circle's system. After being sent there, creatures of the unknown would prey on the fallen soul and tear it to shreds, leaving not even residues behind.

Tenur struggled with his utmost power, intending on giving his captor a hard time in dealing with him. Before he even knew it, he was held up by the neck, by his captor, obviously.

”Who are you?” The voice of the troll was a little old and hoarse, yet it was filled with undeniable authority.

”I-I have no obligation to answer your question, y-you abomination!” Tenur then spat at the troll’s feet before looking the troll back in the eye.

The troll tightened its grip around Tenur’s neck, causing him to almost faint, before loosening a little just to allow him to get a little air into his lungs before he passed out.

“Who are you!?” The troll asked, with his voice reinforced by an overwhelming power.

Tenur ignored him a little while before the troll tightened its grip around his neck again, causing him to speak out of fear of the oblivion.

”T-Tenur...”

”What are you?”

”I'm a human, an insignificant lifestock to your kind! What else do you expect, you filthy green piece of junk?” Tenur shouted out, even though it sounded more like a squeak to the troll.

"i didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice..."

The troll slammed Tenur into the ground, causing him to wince in pain. Initially, anyone who saw the scene would be thinking, poor boy, being killed by a troll through multiple concussions. Though, if it was true, then it would raise the question: why was the troll using such an inefficient method at killing its prey? That was because it wasn't trying to kill its prey, but was actually testing for any signs of regenerative abilities, but seeing as Tenur continued clenching his teeth in pain even after being slammed into the ground several times, it confirmed that he didn’t have such capabilities, though the statement wouldn't be able to explain how Tenur had essence similar to its own. The only explanation was, Tenur hasn't awoken to his abilities yet.

”What’s your affinity, Tenur?” The troll asked impatiently, clearly annoyed at the little fact.

Tenur grinned at the troll's tone, before lying to it, "Don't have one."

The troll was clearly letting out its frustrations using Tenur since it slammed him into the ground several times, forming a small crater in the floor. By the time Tenur was lifted up, all that was left of him was a bloody mess.

”It’s... It-t’s... fertility..” Tenur responded weakly before closing his eyes on his now-swelling face.

Having confirmed Tenur was indeed a fertility mage, it hit Tenur on the head, causing him to instantly black out from the concussive shock.

Denka, or more commonly known as “the peculiar one” by the elders, had a look of contemplation while it decided what to do with the mage.

I should heal him before infection occurs at his wounds.

Denka carried Tenur, who was now an unconscious bloody mess, to its room. Its room wasn't big, but it wasn't completely small either. There was a single bed by the wall farthest from the door, a stone and wood shelf placed against the wall on the right of the bedroom and a few racks filled with strange concoctions on the left. It placed Tenur on its bed, not caring the newly made bloodstains, before heading towards the shelf with strange concoctions in search of a healing potion it made not long ago.

”I shouldn’t have overdone it. Should’ve just talk to him peacefully while I had the chance in the forest...” Denka regretted its actions a little. It expected itself to act differently, different from how others of his kind would. But in the end, it still resorted to violence to solve problems. One might think it shouldn't get hurt (mentally) if it resort to violence, but its ego from being bornt differently was damaged greatly just by the fact of him using the same tactics as others of his kind.

He was capable of grieving when a loved one died in combat, unlike the others of its kind. Most would just ignore the situation, and move on, while he would spend some time burying the dead bodies, before performing a short but manageable ritual to cherish the life of its loved one before death. It had copied the ritual from a nearby village when someone dear passed away during its time outside the nest.

While Denka may have been happy to relive its past memories which gave it new insights onto what he sought, it was even happier to have found another mage with magic similar to its, even if the mage was a human and capable of manipulating fertility only. The fact that shamans, or mages, who manipulated fertility itself was extremely hard to come by made it all the more exciting that the human, named Tenur, was here. It wasn’t even sure if there was any other mage who was capable of manipulating only fertility. It thought of the achievements it could finally accomplish, the research it could finally do with him and the endless possibilities that awaited them if they conformed their paths.

While it absentmindedly searched for the potions, it managed to get the right one. The potion was contained within a round bottomed flask. The green liquid which made up the main components of the potion was actually a mixture of plants and animal remnants, not to mention it contained a "secret" ingredient produced by Denka specifically.

Tenur woke up, once again, in a place unknown to him. He sat up and looked around, groggily, before realization hit him.

I’m in a fucking troll’s lair, argh! He thought to himself.

”At least I’m not dead,” he muttered under his breath before feeling pulses of pain coursing through his head.

Looking around, he saw it was a dimly lit bedroom. There was a green statue in front of the shelves which held strange concoctions.

Wait, is that statue moving?

While Tenur was squinting his eyes to see the statue properly, the statue turned its body to face him while it was holding a flask containing green liquid. The statue was clearly surprised to see Tenur sitting up and staring at it wide mouthed, as its face contorted into a frown.

Realisation finally dawned at him. He was now charging up his penis, intending on firing it at the troll. The troll swiped its other free hand down when it sensed the mana building up. There was a feeling of something cold piercing through his penis when the troll finished its action. Immediately, the mana gathered in Tenur's penis began dissipating at a rate too fast for anyone's comprehension to follow. There was also a "pop" resounding through the room, but no one in there seemed to notice the sound.

Shit shit shit! This shaman is clearly the real deal!

Agitated, Tenur tried gathering even more mana. The troll repeated its same actions over and over until Tenur finally stopped. It looked a bit bored, since all he did was just move his hand around.

"It's useless, give up. And drink this too," The troll tossed the flask to Tenur, and he instinctively caught it.

This looks suspicious...

"Drink it or you die, i know what you're thinking, but its safe to be consumed," the troll gave the final remark some emphaszation.

Tenur pulled out the cork from the flask. A sweet aroma came gushing out of the flask, stimulating his hunger. Without anymore hesitation, he gulped down the entire thing, not even leaving a drop in the flask.

Sweet... And tastes like mint...

Before he could say anything else, he felt his wounds close up. The bruises on his body started fading almost instantaneously, leaving no traces of it ever being there.

Incredible, this potion is even better than the ones made by the alchemists in the town..

Normally, healing potions took almost 30 minutes to completely heal fatal wounds, not to mention it would consume most of the user's stamina. Yet, the one he drank made the healing potions in town pale in comparison. The one he drank not only consumed a small part of his stamina, it healed everything within a couple of minutes.

Not to mention it tastes sweet too...

Tenur was awed by what he just tasted. He then proceeded to try moving his legs. Naturally, it moved however he wanted it to, if not with greater efficiency.

The troll was looking at Tenur with a grin on its face. It was plainly visible to anyone that he was proud of his creations.

"I made it," it said.

Tenur looked at the troll for a second, before remembering it being there. A little frightened, he backed away to the wall by the bed.

”Oh, must be rude of me to not introduce myself. My name is Denka, and I’m a male shaman from the troll race,” Denka introduced himself politely, before giving Tenur a courteous bow, as if he was a nobleman.

"You... Why did you heal me? I thought you wanted me dead..." Tenur thought about it a few more times before saying again, "unless you want my essence..."

Once again, he wore a terrified expression, as if he was a rabbit cornered by a wolf.

”Me? Want your essence? I've got plenty of essence, why do I still need yours?!” Denka said before laughing, clearly amused by what the mage in front of him had in mind.

"Why'd you kidnap me then?" Tenur asked the most obvious question, clearly confused right now.

"Well... I've got a problem with social anxiety. Plus, I'm not well versed in communicating with humans..." Denka trailed off while looking a little down.

"Wait... You kidnapped me just to start a conversation? Pfft! If this is not the funniest joke in history, I don't know what is!" Tenur started laughing out loud, this time amused by Denka's actions instead.

"Seriously, you're not supposed to laugh at someone unfortunate. I studied about you humans and you all always sympathize with a less fortunate person!" Denka retorted.

"Hahahahaha... Well, some of us just don't care bout you guys. We may sympathize with a human, but its hardly worth the effort to sympathize with a troll, since you all eat our kin in cold blood," Tenur said with a hidden coldness, before continuing his laughter.

Denka sulked a little. While he may be socially awkward after a few hundred years of locking himself in, he was still a creature who's lived for over 400 years. He was, without doubt, a creature of wisdom. But to be laughed at by a mere mortal, it was just unforgivable.

Tenur, oblivious to what Denka was thinking about, continued laughing at Denka the shut-in.

With a vein popped out of his forehead, Denka asked Tenur with a polite tone.

"Will you let me give you a medical examination?"

"Hahaha.. Why all of a sudden though?"

"Oh nothing, just a precaution in case the healing potion didn't work well enough..." Denka's voice started containing traces of authority. It made the previous question sound more like an order than a... question.

"No isn't a viable option for your request, is it?" Tenur stopped laughing, getting a little serious.

"Follow me," Denka then lead Tenur out of his bedroom, then into the examination room.

Entering the room gave Tenur a cold chill down his back. It felt like death was imminent, only the question of when it'll come remained.

There was an empty chair in the middle of the room. Other than that, there was nothing more around, not even a window.

"Sit there," Denka pointed to the chair.

Tenur felt that it wasn't a good thing to disobey what was ordered of him, hence, he now sat on the cold wooden chair.

"I'm going to do a checkup on whether your mana production is right on track. Not gonna lie, this is going to be painful as fuck," From the sound of it, Denka was enjoying the moment very much. On the contrary, Tenur was shaking from the unpleasantness of the situation.

"Let's begin," Denka announced.

Following the announcement was a wave of mana coming from within Denka. The mana's behaviour would make one think it was actually a sentient being, but the fact that it was partially glowing in a bluish-green manner while having an opaque appearance made one think otherwise.

Slowly, but surely, the mana seeped into Tenur's body. His muscles tensed, eyes ran wild and teeth clenched instinctively. Subsequently, a surge of magma-like heat was produced from the part where his mana saturated: his testicles.

The pain!! Arghhhhhhhh!

Tenur tried screaming, but his vocal box wouldn't obey. Attempting to fight back by infusing mana into the source of pain, the response he got was instead of relieve, an insurmountable amount of pain was produced.

I.. can't... fight it anymore...

As he imagined what was happening down there, his willpower wore out and finally, his consciousness slipped. He fell into the void of deep slumber, thinking he would never ever be able to escape from it.

Denka felt everything, from how his mana was siphoned into Tenur’s dick and testicles, to how the extracted mana was used to power a defense mechanism Tenur's body induced to fight back the invading mana. It would’ve been a major disaster if he didn’t immediately sever the connection, since it would cause two problems, one major and another minor.

One, he would die while Tenur would be completely unharmed.

Two, at best, only his village, no, town, would be destroyed. At worst... Let's just say it would cause even the gods to panic.

”That was close...” Denka silently mumbled to himself.

He knew Tenur was a natural in walking the path to the creation of life. Yet, he underestimated him too much. He should've known, since Tenur was a natural-born fertility mage, of course the mana he forcefully injected Tenur with would trigger a self-defense mechanism.

He has much potential. In the wrong hands, he might be used to destroy and eliminate all life. But in the right ones...

Denka's line of thought trailed off as he thought of the advantages if Tenur could control his abilities. There was a huge potential for all races to finally live in peace, without fear of being hunted by others, without the fear of being prey to others.

That was when he decided.

I'm going to train this fucker so hard he's going to regret being born at all.

He then exited the examination room, leaving the unconscious Tenur in there all by himself.