Shades of the New World

After four days of travel, Evin was getting used to life in the forest. The first few nights, he had trouble sleeping due to the cold and discomfort of sleeping on the ground. It was still summer, so it wasn't that bad, but it was still cold, considering they lived in the Northern parts of the Kingdom. Especially on the night it rained from evening to sunrise.

But after a few days, he began sleeping like a log, with some extra blankets to cover his entire body. Rith would usually opt to sleep inside his tent in a different set of blankets. They didn't hunt for the past few days, but they still collected some edible plants and berries.

And all in all, they had an enjoyable outing. It was Evin's first time getting out of the city, and only now he realized how much he needed it. The rays of sunshine warming his body through the leaves and the fresh smell of trees after the rain was just what he needed to forget about his obsession with training and constant progress.

Ssatsko taught him how to butcher the buck, but this time he kept some organs, namely its heart, liver, kidney, blood and stomach. Said that the Northerners mostly eat these out of their hunted mammals. Ssatsko cooked it for Evin to try. Evin liked the taste of its liver, the texture of its heart and kidneys, but did not enjoy its stomach and boiled blood.

Traveling for a while like this, they reached their destination soon afterwards.

In the deepest part of the forest, Evin saw the most enormous tree trunk he saw in his life. Its thick trunk was so wide, A hundred people would not be enough to cover its whole circumference. But sadly, it was only as tall as Evin's house. The child could only wonder how tall had it been if it wasn't cut off by something.

Evin floated on top of the tree trunk and saw something else which interested him. The outer areas of the tree looked like it was cut smoothly, but the center of the tree looked like some giant hammer smashed into it and dented the tree into itself.

"Legends say that this tree reached the heavens, allowing the denizens of this forest access to the land of gods. The people of another empire were jealous of them, so they invaded this forest and tried to cut it off with their magic. But they couldn't quite manage to cut it completely, since the tree was so hard and difficult to cut. During that time, the denizens of the forest were able to mount a counterattack, killing all the invaders," Ssatsko narrated.

"Do you believe that story?" Evin asked sarcastically.

"Of course not, it has too many plot-holes. But listen to the end," Ssatsko smiled and continued.

"After the fight, the tree was still cut almost fully. The tree, knowing that it would not be able to grow taller, gathered all its strength and willed to downwards, to the ground. The tree that was said to reach the heavens, was then became known to reach the depths of hell, underground… Come," he said and brought the two to a cave entrance on one side of the tree.

Entering the cave, Evin saw an unforgettable sight. The roots of the giant tree seemed like it truly reached the depths of the planet. Thick, majestic tree roots held patches of dirt above itself, creating something that was essentially a cave. While most caves happened because of giant rock formations creating small spaces of air underground, this one was made thanks to tree roots.

"Fuck," Evin muttered involuntarily.

"This isn't even the best part," said Ssatsko and threw all the Life energy he could muster in his horn, and threw it towards the cave's depths.

After a few minutes, tiny little pink spheres of energy came out of the depths. They flew towards Ssatsko, enveloping the man in the strongest pink hue Evin ever saw in his life.

After which, they surrounded Evin and Rith. They two could feel their head getting filled with new understanding about their bodies. Evin was afraid of doing anything with the World of Life, but now he was confident that he won't mess up by accident. Rith was also happy with the sudden boon.

The commotion died out soon after, but Evin felt a highly dangerous being approaching them. He didn't possess an ability to notice presences, but he simply could not ignore such a beast of nature.

The ground's rumbling could be heard, and Evin soon saw a head of a giant snake approach his group with an unhurried pace. Evin glanced at Ssatsko and found the latter calm and collected. Realizing that this was in his grandfather's expectations, he calmed down slightly. Rith also looked surprised, but it was a look of pleasant surprise.

Evin could finally see the full size of the snake. It was at least 50 meters long and its body was five times thicker than his grandfather's chest.

Ssatsko kneeled, and the two others followed after him. The snake sniffed at Evin and Rith for a bit until it lost interest. It turned around and left soon after. Seeing the snake's whole body pass by in front of him, Evin felt like he was sitting near a railway and counting the wagons of a train that was passing by.

He wasn't sure, but he counted the snake to be at least a hundred meters long. The pink spheres also followed after the snake, and silence fell inside the cave once more.

"What was that snake?" he couldn't help but ask.

"First of all, let's not call it a snake, at least call it a serpent. And as for your question, that was the guardian of this forest. And the little pink things are called World Sprites. The best way to describe them would be to call them as leftovers of magic spells, given some form of intelligence, or should I say, instinct," Ssatsko said.

"World Sprite gathering spots can be found anywhere in the World, but most of them are hidden, just like this one. When one is found and the becomes public knowledge, it would soon die out, since mages would come from all over the World to receive enlightenment regarding that one element. Also, depending on the element, some extra benefits are included as well. For example, the World of Life will give us an extended lifespan," Rith added.

"Do you know other such places?" Evin asked the Feline.

"We do. In fact, if the higher-ups decide to accept you, you will be able to enter one such place," Rith said.

'That's nice. It should be one for the World of Space,' Evin thought.

"How did you find this place?" he then asked his grandfather.

"I was practicing my World of Life magic. At first, I didn't notice anything, but soon, I found that some of the energy that was used in my spells was going in a general direction. I followed it and found this place,"

"How come other mages don't know about this place then?"

"As you know, these horns give us unparalleled control and sensitivity towards it's designated World. Normal mages wouldn't be able to tell anything different, but I was able to, thanks to my horns," Ssatsko explained.

The explanation made sense to Evin, so he didn't dwell on it too much. He had a few more questions to ask.

"What was that sna- serpent doing, sniffing us and everything?"

"Yes. When I first came to this cave, I started exploring it out of curiosity. I found the Sprites and was overjoyed, but my joy was soon shattered after I found the serpent. I thought I was going to die, but the serpent only sniffed me and went away in disappointment. I don't know how, but it was also able to communicate with me through my horns. Said that it was searching for a suitable host to accompany. It then explained to me that it has to be a powerful mage of the World of Life," Ssatsko narrated with reverie.

"He then said that it needed me to bring mages I trusted to him occasionally, but to never let this information become public"

"Do we also have to bring mages here?"

"That would be nice, but I don't think it's compulsory"

"Do you know more about creatures similar to this serpent?" Evin asked Rith.

"They're officially called Beast Lords. All World Sprite gathering spots house one. This one was most likely a lucky snake who was at the right time, at the right spot. When World energy gathers for a long time, it suddenly experiences a qualitative change, and starts producing World Sprites. And if one animal absorbs most of such energy, it becomes stronger and stronger, eventually becoming too powerful to be called a simple mana beast. This process takes a few dozen years or even centuries, but at the end of it, they possess great intelligence and power and are highly respected by locals or the people that know about it. Also, different Worlds give unique abilities to its Beast Lords. Since the energy here is from the World of Life, that serpent would probably the most difficult Beast Lord to kill," Rith explained.