Hola readers! I'm excited to see everybody is enjoying it so far ^^. For those of you who have already read Ch2, I did a small update to it.

The first thing is, I changed Adventurer's Guild to Adventurer's Enclave, the reason will become clear in another chapter where I begin going over how the Adventurer System works.

The second thing is a small script that was added to the end of Ch2 about Nova/Bahina's Mother. You may or may not find it interesting, but I added it as a sort of closer so that she doesn't simply disappear from the story without a word at the end.

Welp, here begins Nova's adventures with the adventurers, I hope you guys enjoy it ;).

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V1: Wild Child

C3: The First Day

For the next week the adventurers escorted Nova out of the Eternal Night Forest. In actuality, they could have gone faster, but... there were too many circumstances where Nova would run around causing trouble. If there was one thing they learned about Nova this week that would be, never underestimate his curiosity.

….

On the morning of the first day, Anderson wakes up from his sleep and stretches his arms. His wings spread fully showing their beautiful pattern of white and black feathers on their undersides. “*Yawn* Mmm, Good morning world, or should it be night? It is the Eternal Night Forest after all. Eheh, hey you gu-...”

As Anderson looks around the campsite, every single one of the adventurer’s packs have been emptied of their belongings and are tossed around the camp. Currently Nova is laying on ground holding on to a vial he took from Muiredon’s pack, his face is a sickly green. “OY! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO KID?!”

The first day was probably the worst it could’ve been for these adventurers. When they woke up, practically all of their gear had been taken out of their backpacks and thrown all around the area. Meanwhile Nova was sitting there with potions he took out of Muiredon’s pack, and ended up drinking a mild toxin from among them. (Anderson set up a defensive spell to keep monsters away from the campsite, so they never really felt the need to have a lookout while they were outside of the dungeon.)

They had to spend a total of two hours picking up everything, and Muiredon had to treat Nova before they could break camp and begin traveling again.

Since Leilatha was the only one who could effectively talk with Nova by using Boris, she ended up giving him a lecture for several hours on how its rude to go through other people’s belongings and how dangerous it is to drink things he isn’t familiar with.

After these hours of lectures, they eventually decided to break for lunch. After lunch the adventurers would explore the surroundings a bit to see if they could find any valuable monsters to kill. Nova was left at the camp with Muiredon, since Muiredon wasn’t really a fighter.

Earlier Nova had saw Muiredon mixing a bunch of leaves, mushrooms, and other things together to replace the antidote and toxin that were used on him. And during this lunch break, he again saw Muiredon rummaging through his ingredients, checking his remaining stock and seeing what herbs he could gather nearby.

Nova watched curiously from a few feet away, and ended up following Muiredon into the forest when he went to go collect herbs. Muiredon collected a few herbs here and there, then he turns around to look at Nova. Nova immediately darts behind a root to hide, but when he peeks over it, Muiredon is motioning him to come towards him.

Muiredon begins showing Nova different herbs around the forest, and shows him how to pick them from the ground without damaging them. A few times he had to stop Nova from eating the herbs by whacking on the head.

After about an hour or so of herb gathering they returned to the campsite, and Muiredon begins showing Nova different the herbs and shows him how to use a pestle and mortar to grind them. Then he boils the crushed herbs in a pot of water and mixes them together. The whole time Nova is very attentively watching and repeating everything Muiredon shows him.

Muiredon then stops stirring, and takes out a small knife. He shows Nova the knife, and then makes a small cut on his left forearm where a small trickle of blood surges to the top of his skin. He then uses a ladle to scoop some of the potion from the pot, and pours it over the top of the wound. Within seconds the small wound closes as if it was never there. Nova stares wide-eyed at his arm.

(Holy… His arm healed just like that? I’ve never seen something so amazing before, usually I just have to lick my wounds until they stop bleeding, but they take weeks before they close up like that. I wonder if it’ll work on me?)

Nova makes a cut on his arm, and mimics Muiredon by pouring the potion on his wound. (Wow! It really closed up just like that! This is amazing! But it still kinda hurts..)

Leilatha, who has just returned from the forest, sees Nova cutting himself and pouring the potion on himself. “Muiredon! What the hell do you think you’re teaching him to do?!”

“Ah, no need ta worry lass. I just taught him some bits of potion making is all. Look at him, hes excited ain’t he?” (Muiredon)

“So what if he’s excited? He’s just a child who doesn’t know any better! What if it leaves a scar?!” (Leilatha)

“My potions would never leave a scar! And he’s not a normal child either, is he? This boy picked up on the things I taught him easily! He’s a natural at it I say, maybe I should take him as my apprentice..” (Muiredon)

“Haah? Your apprentice? Don’t be ridiculous. Don’t you see how that Azure Tiger follows him everywhere? I’d say he’s better off as a hunter, he should be my apprentice now that I think about it..” (Leilatha)

By now Amber, Anna, and Anderson have also returned from looking for monsters in the forest.

“Hoho, Nova is looking for a master? He was quite enchanted by my music you know, I bet he has some hidden talents in him. Come here, Nova. I’ll teach you the beautiful art of music, when you get older there’ll be women lined up for miles to get a taste of you, haha.” (Anderson)

“Hah?! Just what do you think you’re trying to teach him? Don’t corrupt our Nova you nasty bird! Nova will grow up to be pure, and so he needs a pure master to teach him how to be a true gentlemen. I’m obviously the best choice.” (Anna)

“Hmm, Nova is really strong for a young kid, I’d say he’s got a good future as a berserker if he trains right. Plus he loves my cooking, hmm, what do you say Nova? Want Amber to teach you? … When you grow older I can teach other things as well, hehe..” (Amber)

“”””!!!!!””””

Meanwhile, Nova is just watching everyone standing around him without a clue as to what’s going on. (Did they get in a fight? I wonder what they’re fighting about… Sometimes they look at me with these strange expressions.. These people are really weird..I wonder what Bahina is up to, I’ll go look for her.)

In the middle of the battle, Nova sneaks off away from the group to go find Bahina.

After several more minutes of arguing they finally notice Nova is no longer there..

“Tsk, I’ll have to teach my apprentice that running away when his master is protecting him is bad manners.” (Anderson)

“*sigh* Enough. Let’s find out where he went, he’s probably is looking for Bahina.” (Leilatha)

….

A few minutes away from the campsite, Bahina is stalking a creature shes never seen before. It looks like a lizard, but it’s back is covered with spikes and the color of its scales is an ominous purple. Not to mention its almost 8 feet in length, something which could be considered bigger than herself and a good challenge.

Suddenly Nova appears next to her, “Bahina, what’re you looking at?” “Shh, Nova, I’m hunting.” Nova tries to line up his gaze with that of Bahina’s and he sees the lizard a few tens of feet away on the side of a tree. (What a big lizard… It could probably put up a good fight against Bahina, but... I have a bad feeling about this.. Bahina should be fine though.. she’s never lost before.)

A moment later, Bahina’s muscles tense up.. then she pounces, crossing the full distance between her and the lizard in an instant, with a single leap, she lands a heavy strike against the creatures back. The lizard cries in pain as it falls from the side of the tree, but it quickly gets back on its feet.

There’s blood coming from the claw marks on the lizard’s back, but they’re not deep enough to be fatal to it. (What thick skin… It’ll take a few more hits before I can get it weak enough to finish it..)

One of the aspects that their mother had taught them was that when fighting an opponent that is close to your own strength or even stronger, never go for the kill outright. First weaken the opponent until it no longer has to strength to resist you, then kill it. If you were to go for the kill outright and fail without having any plans to get away, you could suffer a fatal injury from the opponents counter-attack.

Bahina and the lizard are watching each other, each one ready to pounce or counter-attack at a moments notice.. Suddenly Bahina charges at the lizard as if she’s going to strike, but just before she does she dashes diagonally to the right then behind the lizard, attacking it’s backside.

The lizard, failing to realize the feint in her attack, tries to strike at Bahina with it’s tail before she gets away again, but she’s already gone. However, Bahina isn’t slowing down the pace as the goes again to land a hit on its backside. This time however, the lizard is already panicking and willing to seize any opportunity to drive it’s enemy back.

The lizard’s spikes shoot out of it’s back, spraying the area all around itself. Most of the spikes headed in Bahina’s direction only glance off her fur, unable to penetrate, but a few of them land head on and force their way into her flesh. “ROOARR!” Bahina let’s out a cry of pain, with no choice to stop her assault. Blood has stained her white fur, but none of the spikes hit any vitals.

She quickly charges the lizard, this time unleashing a flurry of attacks on its backside and killing it. “Haah, I won. Ehehe, Lil Nova, Your big sis is amazing right? Eheh”

“Mm, Yeah! Big Sis is really strong, you were moving so fast!” Nova runs out of the brush, up to Bahina, giving her a proud smile. “But Sis’ injuries.. I know! There’s some liquid back at camp that the hairy man showed me how to make, I bet it could heal your wounds.”

“Ahh, good to know.. I feel.. kinda.. tired.. Ugh..” Bahina passes out in front of Nova, unable to move even an inch.

“Bahina!” (Whats wrong? These wounds aren’t fatal.. Maybe its poison?! Mom said that most things with the color purple are poisonous, but to think it could deal poison from parts other than it’s mouth?! I need to find the hairy man!)

But as soon as Nova turns around, a terrifying sight greets him. On the trees behind him, another dozen or so lizards are climbing down while glaring at him and Bahina, bloodthirst oozing out from their auras. (Crap! I can’t leave Bahina here… But if I stay here, Bahina will die to the poison… CRAP! WHAT DO I DO?!)

….

About thirty seconds later Anna, Amber, Anderson, and Leilatha are all running through the forest. Muiredon stayed behind to watch over the groups belongings.

“ROOAAAAARRRR!!” A roar comes out from the distance, but it seems faintly familiar..

“Could that be Nova?! I have a bad feeling about this.. Let’s go, quick!” Leilatha runs ahead of the rest of them as she can move the fastest thanks to her agility. Boris chases right next to her, and the rest run behind her.

A few seconds later, they enter the area where Bahina had fought the lizard..

Bahina is lying on the ground with blood on her fur, Nova is standing in front of her. Fur is covering Nova halfway up his forearms, about half his chest, and half his calves on his legs. His eyes are completely bloodshot with golden irises moving rapidly to keep all the enemies in his sight. There are cuts all along his arms and chest, and a large bruise is appearing on his right side. He’s breathing heavily, and sweat is pouring out all over his body.

In front of him, the dozen lizards are glaring at him, inching closer. Two lizards are now lying dead on the ground, one near Bahina and another one in front of Nova.

As Leilatha sees this, a lizard suddenly pounces at Nova from the right and hits him with its tail, sending him flying into the roots of a tree nearby, he simply doesn’t have the speed to dodge. “NOVA!” Leilatha leaps over the lizards and lands next to Nova. She checks his breathe, (He’s still breathing, but he and Bahina are both probably already poisoned. Crap! We need to get them to Muiredon fast.. )

Nearby, a lizard is trying to take a bite out of the unconscious Bahina, but right as its about to chomp down an arrow blasts a hole right through the top of its mouth. “Say your prayers, you damned reptiles.” Leilatha has drawn her bow, and is prepared to take swift vengeance.

Anna, Anderson, and Amber all appear from the sidelines, with a single glance they’ve understood the situation.

One of the first things adventurers learn is that they have to be able to adapt to all situations with a single glance, otherwise they could be the ones who end up dead from analyzing for too long.

Anna immediately unsheathes her sword and flips her shield on to her arm. “You’ll regret the day you hatched from your stupid eggs, you ugly reptiles!” Anna’s aura spreads to her surroundings, instantly attacking the minds of these lizards.

This is nothing like killing intent, but rather more of a direct assault of her mental aura on their own, forcing their entire attention on her figure. They immediately rush at her, trying to kill her to free themselves from her aura.

Amber dashes around the group of lizard’s, getting behind them, and immediately starts swinging her battle-axe. Anderson has begun to strum the strings of his guitar with an ominous melody, causing the air around Anna and Amber to change slightly.

Every time a lizard strikes out, trying to hit Anna, either her shield or sword appear as if they were waiting for it. Her sword deflects the attacks, causing the lizards to lose balance, while her shield sends the force of their own blows back to the lizard’s body as she doesn’t even move an inch when they strike against it.

The whole time Amber is dancing wildly with her battle-axe sending the lizards, limbs, and heads flying into the air, and every time a lizard flies into the air, its body is hit by an arrow which blasts a hole in its body. Boris stands by Leilatha in case any enemies try to ambush her.

Teamwork. Such perfect, harmonious teamwork.

Anna focuses the enemies into one area, diverting their attention from the other members while dealing with their attacks.

Amber uses her position to kill, weaken, and disrupt the enemies by sending them flying in the air while Leilatha follows up by killing the targets sent into the air.

Anderson supports the group with magic, making their movements faster, their attacks stronger, and their patterns harder to predict while at the same time creating panic in the minds of the enemy and hiding the sounds his allies make.

In the ears of Anna, Amber and Leilatha, however, every sound an enemy makes is amplified, enabling them to react to them easier.

For the entire twelve seconds the fight lasted, Nova is staring at them. His eyes half-closed, struggling to remain open… (Amazing…) and he is no longer able to avoid the pull of unconsciousness as his eyes are forced closed.

One second to kill each of the lizards. Thats how fast it went. However, this group didn’t even pause after the battle ended, immediately grabbing Nova and Bahina.

Leilatha quickly cuts into one of the lizards to remove its poison sac, Anna carries Nova while Amber grabs ahold of Bahina. They race against the clock of death back to the campsite.

….

Nova and Bahina are both currently laid out in the campsite. Muiredon is channeling healing class light magic into their bodies to help the anti-poison he made from the lizard’s poison sac. Both of them are breathing roughly and sweating profusely as their bodies are being cleansed.

The wounds on both of them are still opened with blood glistening on them, but there is also a purple liquid slowing seeping out of them. In order to purge the poison from a wound, the opening needs to stay open as an exit path.

After several minutes of Muiredon purging them and the girls constantly standing close by with worried expressions, resisting the urge to hold Nova in their arms, the poison slowly stops coming out of their wounds.

“*Hoo* That’s all’ve it, I would say. Now I’ll just be needin’ ta use some regeneration potion ta close up the wounds. It’ll be up ta their own bodies for when they’ll waken. Don’t ye girls disturb the lad though, he needs his rest. But ye can quit yer worrin’, they’ll both live.” (Muiredon)

They all sigh in relief, even Anderson who has been silently standing off to the side makes a relieved expression.

Several hours go by, as the group decides to just stay camped until both of them wake up naturally. Bahina was the first to wake up, although slightly dazed. She looks about her, unsure as to what happened, when she sees Nova nearby sleeping soundly. The adventurers see her wake up, and Boris is made to explain to her what happened.

(Nova was hurt.. and it was because of me.. How stupid! If only I were stronger.. I need to be stronger.. Mom did say this world was more dangerous than we realize.. My own foolishness got Nova injured..) She walks over to Nova, and curls up around him. (To protect Nova, I will get stronger. Please Nova, please wake up.)

No one says anything else as they watch Bahina lay down near Nova, a few more hours go by..

“What’s with all yer longsome faces like the lads already at death’s door? I said he’d be fine didn’t I? He’s only a wee child, what’d ye expect? He ain’t got the vitality of monster even if he was raised by one. Just give it some time ye worried pansies.” (Muiredon)

Everyone makes a pained face, realizing the truth in what he’s saying. But still, they won’t be completely at ease until they see Nova wake up for themselves..

“Nnn…” Nova moves slightly in his sleep.

Everyone looks at him, and they get up to see if he’ll wake up, as this is the first time he’s actually moved since they brought him here.

“Ahhnn..” Nova slowly opens his eyes.. he sees everyone around along with Bahina curled around him..

His eyes lock onto Amber. He reaches out with his hands, as if trying to bring her closer.

Amber immediately moves closer, while Leilatha and Anna give slightly jealous expressions at her.. “What is it Little Nova..” *Grrowwwll*

“...”

His stomach just growled.. Nova is currently latched onto Amber’s armor as he looks at her with pleading eyes..

“Haahh, you greedy devil! You’ve made us all worried for almost half a day, and the only thing you want to do when you wake up is eat?! Fine! I’ll feed you, but I’m monopolizing you for the rest of the day!”

“....” Everyone else is completely stunned, they watch Amber pickup Nova and carry him off to begin cooking.

“Ah! Wait! I wanna play with Nova too!” (Anna)

“Hey! You girls, he just woke up! Don’t startle him!” (Leilatha)

The girls all chase after Amber, including Bahina, leaving only Anderson and Muiredon just standing next to eachother.

“I don’t know why.. but I get the feeling I’m slowly being forgotten..” (Anderson)

“Mmm, it’s because you play such weird songs..” (Muiredon)

“Tsk, what would you know about music. My songs are divine.”

Nova Chapter List