“This is the first time you have come to speak with me,” says Garren as he stares at Valen across the table.“I also have to admit that your ability to make such amazing progress on our language in a little over a month’s time is very impressive,” he continues.

An annoyed look crosses Valens' face, ‘Lin better,” he says in disjointed common.

“I learn much faster than Valy,” Lin chirps in English, not even lifting her head from the paper she is drawing on next to him.

A heavy laugh releases from Garren's throat as amusement is prevalent in his eyes. Shaking his head at the abnormality of the situation, he turns to Valen," Before we begin, I just want to thank you for hunting the beasts around our town, and then leaving them with Daria. The large amount of meat you supplied us has helped us feed all the new members of our town."

“Hunting easy,” Valen answers, reminded of how most of the beast can be quickly killed off with a bullet to the head.

Another laugh escapes Garren’s mouth as he answers Valen,” Easy for you, but killing and transporting such large game is not easy for the average hunter, especially since dead bodies attract far more dangerous predators.”

“Need help,” Valen interrupts,“need map,” short sentences being easier to say.

A frown forms on Garren's face as he sits back in his chair, "That will, unfortunately, be quite the problem. The map of the world that I had was given to my son Breon, and unfortunately those same orc slavers you took out burned his home down, the map included."

"What I can do for you though, is explain the world a bit for you, as I have traveled far and wide for many decades," turning his head to Lin,"I don't suppose you have something for me to draw on?" Garren asks.

Understanding the question, Valen forms a large blank piece of paper with a pen and sets it on top of the table.

Picking the pen up, Garren stares at the kitty drawing covering its length and then starts to draw on the paper. " First, every map of Nostris, our world, will have Jerika, the largest continent, will always be located at the center," Garren explains as he draws a large circle on the center of the paper." Then on the north east of Jerika we have our small continent, Zaracona."

Slowly a much higher detailed map is drawn to the top right of the paper." As you can see, Zaracona is very unique in its geography. The entire northern and eastern parts of the continent are covered in large mountains, making access from Geralyn to the ocean completely impossible," Garren explains, filling in detail where necessary.

“And west?” Valen asks, watching the Bear-kin slowly make a map into being.

A frown forms on Garren's face."The west is a place that nothing survives. It goes by many names. Death Zone, Cursed forest, and The Crystal Forest, though that last one I heard only described by a High Elf." Clearing his throat with a sip of tea, he points at the western location.

"It is still unknown why, but anything that enters near that forest will always die. Nothing survives being anywhere near it."

“Now then, the only area that has access to the ocean is through the south, but unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, a desert is located in between.” Garren starts to create wavy lines at the bottom of the continent.

"It would take a group over 2 months to travel from Geralyn to the southern ocean. The desert has few oases and the only ones who know their locations are the Snake-kin, who are not kind to those that do not share our heritage." Garren remarks, staring at Valens expression, a look of curiosity donning his face as he continues to stare at the map.

“Continuing on, the next largest continent is called, Orgara, also the home of the Great Orcan Empire,” hearing a familiar word, Valen looks up at Garren.

Garren, heeding the attention no mind, draws another circle, about twice the size of Zaracona. The circle appears above Jerika, slightly to the left.

"These three are the main continents of our world," Garren continues "but the number of islands are far more numerous, unfortunately, I never bothered to learn their locations." a shrug is all Valen gets to his curious stare.

Taking in the map, confusion passes through his face, the size of the continents not aligning to a circular world that Valen is comfortable with. “How far is map,” Valen asks the old Bear.

“What do you mean by how far the map is?” Garren asks, confused at Valens question.

Valen produces a spherical ball in his hand “This world,” Valen points at the ball, “How far around,” Valen asks, twirling his finger around the ball.

Recognition passes through Garren’s, followed by a gazing expression, taking in Valen’s physical details.

“Tell me, who are you?” Garren asks.

A struggle starts to take place in Valen’s mind, the decision to disclose his origins or not and the repercussions it may cause.

“Varen,” Garren interrupts his warring thoughts” You saved my people, fed them, protected them,” a silence passes the two,“Any secret that you want me to keep, I will keep it to my grave.”

Glancing at the steadfast expression on Garren’ face, Valen takes a slow deep breath,“I come Crystal Forest.”

“What? How? Nothing lives there,” Garren begins, interest and confusion present on his face.

“I from other world,” Valen says, common still hard to fully grasp.

Garren stares at Valen, expecting something different than a tense expression on his face.

With a trembling hand, Garren picks up a teacup to his mouth. “What world?” escapes from his trembling mouth.

Slowly, Valen puts his hand towards the center of the table, and immediately a globe of Earth becomes present.

Garren stares at the colorful globe. Extreme details are present on the sphere, marking and words that he cannot understand.

"Make it disappear," Garren orders. With a wave of Valen's hand, the sphere disappears, only a memory left of its presence.

“Valen,” Garren starts ,“portal magic, the ability to travel through extreme distances instantly,is something that High Elves covet indiscriminately. A magic only they know how to use, the same magic that the Xerafin would burn an entire forest to obtain.”

"I need you to never disclose the information of where you are from, because if either the Xerafin or High Elves find out about a portal, then they may very well destroy the Cursed Forest, jeopardizing the neutrality and safety of all beast-kin."

A dense silence continues, with Lin drawing the only sound heard.

“I promise,” Valen starts, relief evident on Garren’s face,”But, I want you to train me in magic.”

Before Garren can answer, a little Lin slams her drawing on the center of the table."Done!" she yells, glee evident in her voice. Looking down, the picture of a Bearman ripping off a monkey's arm is shown, blood spewing from the wounds.

Garren and Valen stare at the little tigress, a huge accomplished smile on her face.

_______________________________________________________________

It's the middle of the day, and Valen stands with Garren in the back of his home. Lin watches from atop a nearby tree, ice cream held in hand, sugary cream dripping towards the ground.

"Now then, as you may have figured out, there are two primary ways a being is able to utilize mana," Garren explains to an attentive Valen."

The first, is internal mana enhancement. This is where an individual spreads mana through their body and multiplies their current muscle strength. Your average beast-kin will subconsciously spread mana through their body when threatened or another strong emotion becomes present. The tiger-kin are unique in this aspect because their brains are strengthened as well, something only instinct is able to do." Nodding in understanding, Valen watches as Garren demonstrates, his muscles getting larger, smoke wafting from the fur.

"The next way to utilize mana is external manipulation. This utilization requires a way for your body to excrete mana. This is usually done by a focus. The focus of the orcs is their tusks, the elves their ears, the xerafin their wings," Looking towards Valen with a complicated expression," and yours would seem to be your skin."

"The larger the focus, the more mana you can summon, as well as channel. Unfortunately beast-kin do not possess any focus, instead, we have greatly increased strength, allowing us to enhance our physical capabilities to amazing levels," Garren says, flexing his large muscles for Valen.

“How Enhancement?” Valen asks the flexing Bear-kin.

"Well, it's rather simple, just keep the mana inside your body instead of releasing it. Just have it flow through your muscles. Give it your best shot," Garren says, a reassuring smile on his face.

Taking a deep breath, Valen opens the channels of his mana, flowing it through his body and directing towards his muscles. Using his will, Valen restricts the pores of his skin from releasing the mana. The mana quickly engulfs his body, and for a moment, he feels his muscles expand, only for the large quantity of mana to overflow, causing every muscle in his body to cramp up.

Valen screams as uncontrollable pain slams into his head. Every receptor of his muscles starts sending pain signals to his brain, causing Valen to fall unconscious, mana quickly smoking out of his skin as he lay on the ground, muscles spasming uncontrollably.

“VAAAALLLYYYYYYY!!!!” Lin screams as she jumps down the tree and runs towards Valen, tears starting to pour out of her eyes.

“What happened,” Zalena yells as she runs out of her house, a baby deer-kin in her arms.

“Just an accident,” Garren replies as Zalena stares at Valen’s twitching form.

“Garren!,” Zalena yells,”If he dies because of you, the whole town will flay you alive,” she says, still staring at Valen as Lin attempts to stop his spasms.

"Bah," Garren waves indiscriminately at her " He merely poured far more mana into his muscles than is possible for them to handle," Garren explain's, Valen's spasming muscles starting to slow down.

“You hurt Valy,” Lin says, a tear faced Lin explains.

Shaking her head,“you dug your own grave, husband,” Zalena says, as she walks back into her home, baby still asleep in her arms.

______________________________________

Belinda, Zalena, and Sidney sit around a circular table, a tea set conveniently placed in the center.

"She is so adorable," Sidney squeals as a little baby deer-kin wraps he hand around her finger.

"Hello, little Ayana," Sidney coo's as the little baby giggles at her facial expressions.

“So Zalena,” Sidney starts, “how is it taking care of Ayana.”

"Much better than Breon," Belinda interrupts " Ayana is such a sweet baby. She sleeps, giggles, and very rarely cries. Breon, on the other hand, made sure that everyone knew he was awake," a smile forms on her face as she reminisces about the past.

As the ladies sit and talk, a loud commotion can be heard in town.

"Is that Valen guy causing problems again?" Belinda asks, a smile coming to her lips.

“Can’t be,” Zalena says, taking a sip of her tea.” Valen is currently resting from a training accident,”Zalena answer, a smile forming on her lips as the commotion intensity gets louder.

Before Belinda can ask what the accident was about, Garren runs out between two homes. His fur is covered in poop, with large piles of dirt stuck on him. As he continues to run, a veritable army of children run after him, balls of mud in their small hands.

"Get him!" Lin yells, leading the charge, her dirty dress flowing through the wind, children following loyally behind.

Laughter ensues between the three ladies, Ayana also joining in.