Chapter 8
Mark also said to rest early for tomorrow's gonna be a tiring adventure.
Stephen nodded as he smiled at his uncle and he is excited to have many companions.
He imagined himself to be swarmed with a flock of crows after he will shout his skill beast call.
Stephen changes his dirtied clothes upstairs and while he is changing, he hears something knocking at the window side.
He saw a glimpse of a shadow that is black and is resembling a big bird that is sitting outside the window pecking the window gla.s.s.
"Oh! MR. crow!", he said in shock
Stephen hurriedly opened the window and Mr. crow said "I'm sorry to bother you but could you please give me the food you promised? I agreed to the contract because you promised to give me food."
Stephen almost forgot the contract's condition.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm gonna tell Mom about it.", he said to the crow
Stephen went downstairs to tell his mom and brought chopped meat on a plate.
"Here finish this and I'm going to have dinner first. I'm gonna come back later."
"Wack! okay! wack!", the crow replied
Stephen came down then he saw her mother, his father, and uncle seated in the table waiting for him to sit also.
He moved the chair and sat beside his father than hold the spoon and fork with his hands.
His father folds his hands and they fell silent for a moment, his father then said "itadakimasu!" they also yelled together with his father.
Stephen smelled the aroma of the pork soup then sipped the hot soup and hurt his tongue.
"Ouch! ouch! it's so hot", He muttered painfully.
"Be careful son it's still hot", Isabella said to Stephen.
"Hahahahahahaha!" Douglas and Mark laughed at Stephen.
Stephen munched the big chunks of meat sliced by his mother that tasted quality delicious pork and there's an after taste of spicy flavor.
After munching the meat, he sipped the soup to the last drop and burped.
"Excuse me," he said.
Stephen asked her mom to help her with the dishes and clean the table.
After doing his task he climbed upstairs and saw that Mr. crow finished his plate full of meat.
"Thank you for the food! I've finished eating and I have some spare to my family.", the crow said to him
Stephen looked outside and saw seven crows!
"They said they want to have a contract with you", Mr. crow explained
Stephen was surprised again and then immediately established contracts.
Stephen didn't let the opportunity to go to waste so he said to them to spread the word to their fellows.
Mr. crow said to try their best and they left.
Stephen carried the plate downstairs and washed it.
"So was it a success?", her mother questioned him.
" Yes!" Stephen replied.
Her mother was very happy and hugged him.
"So you established a contract with a crow?", her mom asked
"No mom it was seven", Stephen said
"What? seven already?", her mom was shocked
"And I told them to recruit more", Stephen added
"More? wow, my son is amazing. You know your mother has a whole flock of crows at the age of twelve but you're catching up to me with your only first try!"
"Son Don't Tell me that (her mother paused for a second) You're loved by animal spirits like your grandma. Oh, I have an amazing child!" she said then she hugged him again.
"Ok mom I'm gonna go to bed", he said while having difficulty in breathing.
Her mother let go and patted his head.
Ok, son but promise me not to transform in front of people or they will get scared okay!
Stephen closed his eyes and smiled then he replied "okay!"
At Stephen's room, there is a dim light coming from his lamp and his window is still open.
He closed the window and the sound of the wind from the outside disappeared.
He stands at the center of his room and called forth h.e.l.ltooth.
[Beast call]!
From his shadow emerge a wolf that is as tall as his waist with blue-green eyes and an orange fur.
"How are you doing h.e.l.ltooth?" His master asked him.
"I'm fine, if you still don't know all my wolf clan is ready to be summoned by you, you just need Mana to summon them.", he replied to his master.
"Oh it's fine I can only afford you for the meantime. My Mana capacity is still lacking. Oh, by the way, how did your clan perish?" Stephen asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry If you're still not prepared to say it then I will not bother you.", Stephen hastily said
"No it's okay", h.e.l.ltooth then explained to him with his story.
According to his story, It started In the afternoon when the young ones are happily playing in the meadow.
He as the Alpha is watching at the top of the rock looking out for the dangers that will come to attack their home.
He watched for an entire hour while waiting for the hunting team to arrive from their hunt and he turned back to take a nap at the cave they dug.
As he entered, he heard the howl of other wolves.
"Here they come!", they shouted.
After he heard them, he hurriedly runs to greet them but only several came back home.
"Where are the others?", he asked the survivors but they replied that they are attacked by ferocious people.
"They are biting us, we fight them but we're the ones eaten instead so we retreat to our home, but I think we've been followed.", the hunt leader said.
"Okay take a rest and let's prepare to relocate in the jungle", h.e.l.ltooth said.
They went to the jungle but they're surrounded instead.
In the midst of the horde, h.e.l.ltooth leads the males to create a path to escape but they are taken down one by one.
They fight until they escaped but they're continuously followed.
Without food their strength falters, they walked for days without eating and some can't continue the journey after they collapsed.
He leads the remaining males to hunt and while they hunt, they're surrounded again.
In his mind, he was only thinking of their pups to survive so they struggled for hours until h.e.l.ltooth is the only one remained.
He's bitten at his leg while fighting so he walked for several hours until he found a rock beside a river.
He's found by his mother and he became unconscious.
The last words he said to her is "I've failed as a leader".
"That's the story master, a sorrowful one", said h.e.l.ltooth as he finished his story.
Stephen then wondered why was his dream connected to h.e.l.ltooth, maybe they are destined by fate to meet.
"I'm sorry to force you to tell your sad memories. And by the way how many is the number of your wolf pack?", Stephen asked
"About hundreds of wolves", h.e.l.ltooth replied.
Stephen was shocked and said, "I can only handle one wolf for now but there are hundreds?"
"Ok ok ok I'm gonna hurry up to improve my Mana well to summon them all!", Stephen grinned and laughed like a crazy person.
h.e.l.ltooth is confused when he laughed but in his mind, he will get the revenge he needs through his new master.
Stephen stopped laughing and he said to h.e.l.ltooth to meet him another time and to rest well.
h.e.l.ltooth returned to his shadow and Stephen sat at his bed then said "I'm gonna hunt for pet crows tomorrow" and then he sleeps.
In the morning he meditates to improve his Mana well, take a bath, jog, push-ups, sit-ups, curl-ups, side steps, kicks and punched, improve his heavy lifting, conjured throwing daggers, and practice throws.
His uncle went hunting for breakfast and Stephen also joined him, they transformed into werewolves and hunted.
They roam the forest sniffing the air running swiftly evading the trees and obstacles.
Mark then sensed moving animals in the distance. They stopped and they silently sneak. They found a family of wild boars and without delay they attacked.
Stephen caught a young one and his uncle caught the father.
They carried it home and her mother dismantled it.
They will have grilled pork for breakfast and her mother will make the remaining pork into dried meat.
Stephen chopped his portion that he will feed to the crows for making contracts this afternoon.
They ate happily and Uncle Mark tells their morning adventure of hunting for boars.
His uncle is impressed with Stephen's adaptability to the surroundings when they hunt.
Stephen is getting used to his werewolf transformation and is not in pain anymore when reverting.
He is now already in the first stages of the Lycan's maturation.
Stephen then changes his clothes to a uniform and went to school.
While he is walking, he is improving his skill in conjuration and he met a girl with the same uniform.
He greeted her and asked her name.
"I am Stella, I live next to Billy Graham the farmer next to your house.", she said
"Oh, you mean grandpa Billy? you live next to him?", Stephen asked
"Yes," she replied.
"And I'm Stephen, Let's go to school together!", Stephen said joyfully
"Okay!", she replied
They walked together and Stella said that she recently transferred to his uncle's house.
Her family is living in the pinewood forest and is sent to his uncle to study at the academy.
She didn't say if she is a druid or a fellow Lycan but Stephen now knows that she is from either of the two.
She said that her village's name is Brumund.
"Oh, a druid of the pinewood forest!", Stephen exclaimed.
"You're not disgusted in me?", Stella asked.
"Of course not! why would I feel disgusted to the protectors of the forest", Stephen said in a confident manner.
Stella blushed for a moment.
"By the way what is the job of your parents?", she asked.
"My father is a patrol to the borders and my mother is a housewife." He replied.
"Oh, a patrol to the borders? I hope I will meet your parents someday.", she said happily
Stephen laughed silently and continued to walk to school.
She was a
While she is talking to her, Stephen realized that she is a beautiful short girl that has ponytailed hair perfect for her looks.
They arrived at the school and met Hanna and Patrick.
Stephen introduced Stella to Patrick and Hanna.
They greeted each other and went to their own cla.s.s.
Stephen entered the cla.s.s and sit in his seat watching the windows and waiting for the start of cla.s.s.
When he and Patrick talked with each other, their homeroom teacher appeared and said: " attention everyone we have a new cla.s.smate, I introduce to you miss Stella".
Stella entered the cla.s.sroom walking then she shyly greeted everyone and said "I'm Stella Brumund from Brumund village"
The students are awestruck, the silence then is broken after someone said "an actual druid! for real!"
The students greeted her with a warm welcome and the girls talked to her with amazement.
Stella's fear of rejection has vanished from then on.
"Okay everyone settles down and back to your seats.", their teacher said
"Stella go to the vacant seat at the back."
Stella seated at the back and the cla.s.s proceeded.
"Hey, Stella I didn't expect that we're going to be cla.s.smates. Let's go home together again this afternoon", Stephen said with a low voice.
Stella nodded then she listened attentively with their teacher.
Stephen then listened to his teacher who is Peter Balton teaching the kinds of jobs and their purposes, the battle formations of the army, and the team roles of the job cla.s.s(whether support, tank, and damage dealers).
The students listened attentively while taking notes.
After the cla.s.s, Patrick and Stephen talked about their previous lesson.
Patrick said that he guessed that if he will have a team role, he will be a Tank or a damage dealer while Stephen guessed that he will be a support cla.s.s.
While they are talking, Stella was grabbed by the girls to have a recess at the canteen.
Druids are very very secretive and are not common people you can meet.
Only the young champions that win their coming of age ceremony are allowed to go outside.
They duel with each other and only the top five who win are allowed to go outside every year.
With Stella's experience, she is a top-cla.s.s druid that is produced by their clan.
Stella is currently adjusting to her new friends and her fear of strangers has been conquered.
Patrick treated Stephen for a snack as they talked with their experiences but Stephen didn't tell Patrick yet about his lineage.
He's afraid to tell his friend that he can change to a beast.
Stephen is jealous of Stella because she conquered her racial fears while Stephen is afraid that his secret will be revealed.
"The next cla.s.s will about to start, let's hurry up so that we will be able to make it on time.", said Patrick
Stephen and Patrick both run in the Hallway, evading the walking students and make it in time.
The next cla.s.s is all about elemental affinity and the lessons will be thought by Herbert Graham, Son of Stephen's neighbor Billy the farmer.
Stephen waved at him and he waved back.
Stephen remembered that he is visiting their house since his young age and he is the childhood friend of his father.
"Now we're gonna have a lesson about elemental affinity."
"Anyone knows about the basic elements?", their teacher asked
Stella raised her hands and answered. "The basic elements are wind, water, earth, and fire. The unique elements are holy, shadow, electric, nature, and spirit."
"Very good you've answered the question and guessed the next question I'm going to ask."
"You're quite knowledgeable despite being a druid."
"First you have to upgrade your Mana well to the second stage so that you will not exhaust immediately your Mana."
"There are three aspects of an efficient spell casting; the casting speed, the Mana consumption, and the Mana regeneration. The casting speed will determine how fast you cast. Mana consumption determines how conserved are your skills in eating your mana. The Mana regeneration determines how fast your mana regenerates."
"These three are important to be a skillful caster."
"In order to last in battle, we have to train these three."
"And also the skills are determined in tiers; the higher the tier, is the higher your efficiency in Mana consumption and casting speed as well as the effect of the skill"
"Tomorrow we're going to determine what elemental affinity you students have."
"Cla.s.s dismiss"
They put their notes in their bags and Patrick signaled him to wait for him outside.
In their launch time, Stella talked to Stephen about how happy she is in finding new friends.
She told him that she has only one friend in their village and her name was Yvonne.
Sadly she was beaten by her opponent and can't leave the village.
"Hey Stella about your family name, are you really a member of the Brumund household?", Patrick asked.
"Yes, I am the youngest daughter of our village head, his majesty Leonard Brumund, son of the great druid elder Simon Brumund. After the retirement the Grandfather Simon as the village head he is designated as a great elder of the village", she replied with a wink
They talk to their friends for some time and they didn't notice that afternoon cla.s.ses are gonna start.
Stephen seated at his sit and scanned the notes he has taken from various teachers.
While scanning, Sir Maldous entered and said "Good afternoon students".
"Good afternoon sir Maldous", the students said after they stand up.
"Okay everybody takes your seats. Today we're gonna play a game. Change your uniforms and let's play outside!", their teacher said.
After they change their uniforms, they went to the playgrounds.
"Okay everyone gathers up we're gonna play chase you will be divided into two teams the red and blue".
"We will put cloths to your head and you will get the cloths in the head of your enemies"
"You have to steal the cloths and deliver it to your base."
"The first team that steals all the cloths of their enemies will be the winner."
"For those who are cloth are stolen they are eliminated and will get out of the playground."
"For the twist, you're gonna wear these weights."
"By the way, the use of spells while playing is prohibited."
"I know some of you already know a spell or two."
"That's all for the instructions and let's a.s.sign you all to your teams."
Patrick is blue, Stella is blue, and Stephen is in red.
Blue team will gather on the left side and red on the right side.
Stephen is pretty used in carrying weights but this time, he has already one.
He put another pair of weights to his legs-the one given to him by his sir.
It is heavy and it will be hard to Sprint and dash but he can still run at a fast pace.
Stephen didn't use his beast aura or his teacher will be alerted with his presence.
The blue team a.s.sembled on the opposite side of the grounds and Stephen with the red team stretched their bodies.
All the members of the team displayed excited looks and others are serious.
Some are worried that they will be caught up by the opposing teams.
They will be slower and their stamina will drain faster for they are still not used to the weights.
Others start jogging and they cheered each other.
"Patrick! go easy on me okay!", Stephen shouted to Patrick and waved.
"Okay!", Patrick replied.
"Blue team are you ready?"
"woooooo!", the blue team shouted.
"Red team are you ready!?"
"Whoooo!!!"
'"Okay Start!"
The teams approached each other and Stephen is very cautious of his headcloth.
He runs together with his teammates, He then targeted the person nearest to him.
A hand tried to grab his head but he evaded.
Stephen grabbed the headcloth of the one who wants to grab him without effort then he runs back to their base.
He noticed that someone is following him.
He is chased by Patrick at a tremendous speed!
He is getting closer and closer.
When Patrick tried to grab Stephen's headcloth, Stephen dodged and changed his direction then he faced him while crouching.
This time Stephen's the one who attacked.
He jumped to Patrick and Patrick grabbed his hands and slammed him to the ground.
Stephen felt the pain after his body was slammed to the ground.
He also retaliates and he sweeps Patrick's legs and Patrick fell down.
Patrick rolled back and sat in the ground.
He watched the surrounding and Stephen lost in his sight.
He ran away!
Patrick laughed and he is happy to have a nice duel with him.
Patrick then targeted other red teams and Stephen went to the base of blue.
Stephen is agile and is training so he has no difficulty in evading, while his problem is his stamina that is rapidly decreasing.
He collected five headcloth then he surrendered due to exhaustion.
Patrick stayed until he collected ten and the winner is blue.
As for Stella, she collected seven.
She is just playing around with the red team who has a hard time catching her.
Stephen removed his weights and rest.
He cast [minor heal] to himself and returned the weights of his teacher Ernstine.
"Okay cla.s.s gather up! gather up! gather up! The winners will have additional grades based on their performance."
"And for the red team.... congratulations!
Also the blue team, your performance is splendid."
"Today you have improved a lot and your experiences today will help you in your future endeavors."
"Students strive more and you will be stronger every time you practice."
"Tomorrow don't be absent for I'm gonna start to teach you to combat arts."
"Cla.s.s dismiss!"
Stephen was excited about the lesson tomorrow and he's going to have a formal lesson about basic combat.
Patrick was amazed by his best friend so he treated Stephen and Stella for an after school snack.
They talked with each other and Hanna saw them and also joined.
They happily talked to Hanna with their experience recently and were enjoyed by their story.
Afterwards, Stella and Stephen walked home while Hanna and Patrick went another way.
They said their goodbyes and waved with each other.
At their walk at home, Stella is smiling on her first day of school and she told Stephen to walk faster for she is excited to come home.
Stephen and Stella watched the sunset in the valley while the Meadows are reflecting the sunlight.
They gazed at the farms of the one they are pa.s.sing by and they were silent.
"It's beautiful isn't it?", Stephen breaks the silence.
"Yes! living in this peaceful kingdom and is full of Hope even we're on the brink of extinction. We druids promised to protect our last and only home, the Almaria Kingdom".
She gazed at the sunset and smiled and said "when can we go out of these walls? can we last for another hundred years? Will the plague find it's the way here in the kingdom? Can the kingdom protect us? how long?"
Stephen is bewildered by her questions but held her shoulders and replied "That's why we're making ourselves stronger, that's why we train ourselves to school. To fight when the time comes. To be strong to protect the weak and to be the foundation of the next generation."
Stella was amazed at Stephen's answer.
She hoped that their dreams to conquer the plague will be on their reach one day.
Stephen arrived at their home and introduced Stella to her parents.
Oh, my boy is now a grown man to actually have a...
Douglas didn't finish his sentence and was pinched by Isabella.
"Oh, my little boy has a new friend. May I know your name?", Isabella asked.
"I'm Stella Brumund, please take good care of me.", she replied.
"Brumund! You mean from Brumund village?", Douglas and Isabella chorused
"Yes, I'm the youngest daughter of the village head Leonard Brumund.", she replied
"Oh, Leonard Brumund! an acquaintance of mine!", Douglas suddenly exclaimed.
"He is a true warrior but a kind husband to her wife."
"I defeated him once but It was pure luck."
"Hummp Now I know now that you are his daughter let me give my regards to him."
"If you will meet him someday send my regards to him tell and him the name of Douglas Burg, the only one who defeated him!"
"Hahahahahaha!! just kidding", Douglas said while smiling.
"Douglas you're scaring the child!", Isabella pokes his belly.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm sorry okay!", Douglas apologized.
Stella chuckled, she is happy that someone beat his father.
She can't imagine his face while beating the c.r.a.p out of him.
"Okay it's getting dark I need to go home.", she hurriedly said.
"Bye Stella see you tomorrow at school!", Stephen then waved at her
Stella hurriedly went home and Stephen removed the weights in his legs and changed his clothes.
His uncle Mark told him to prepare for they will go to the woods and make contracts to the crows.
Stephen changed his clothes and they went to the forest carrying a bag of meat.
As they walked together, they hear crows appearing one by one.
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The crow said "My family spread the news and all the ones appeared here are seeking for a master, in return they are asking
for just a small portion of food."
Stephen opened the bag and placed it on the ground as an offering.
"Wack! wack! wack!", The crows cried and are shouting.
"I will offer this food but in return, we will make a contract", Stephen said.
"Okay fine establish a contract now so we can start to eat", The crows said while grumbling.
"Okay everyone line up!", Stephen said
Making contracts lasted for several minutes till the last crow is finished.
They numbered fifty-seven including the ones he has already contracted.
After making contracts the crows ate in just minutes and they finished eating an entire chopped boar.
"Can I have a minute?", Stephen interrupted.
The crows watched him attentively.
"I will summon you in dire times, can I count on you to help me?", he asked.
"Kwack! Of course, you're our master that saved us from hunger!", Stephen giggled as he looked at his uncle.
His uncle patted his head and said: "nicely done boy, nicely done".
Stephen hugged him and he said to the crows to go.
They watched them and only Mr. crow remained.
"Thank you!", Stephen said and Mr. crow flew back to its home.
They walked home and as they arrive, the dinner is ready.
They ate and sleep until the morning comes.