Shape

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Meanwhile at the tent

Ensz-"Damn it , what should I do.. at least if I had his corpse I could make up a story , but I don't want Leila to be sad... I'll just tell her he left the village through the forest"

Knowing that Leila was still in bed and soon to give birth , will give Ensz more times to think about how to deal with Neo , he couldn't just tell her that he chased out his own son .

~~~

Neo , frozen from shock , he tries to touch the black grass , with a single poke , the grass turn into dust and flew away with the wind.

The tree trunks ,branch and leaves were all black , as if the whole forest got burnt by a wildfire , the wolves , tigers , bears , every single living animals that were in the vicinity

looked all dried up.

It was like a march of vampire who were so thirsty they even suck the hell out of grass and trees.

Neo stood up and walk toward the tiger corps who looked like it had all its blood sucked out and as soon he touch the body , all he could feel is the fur , no bones , eyeballs and the internal organs were all missing , the only thing that was left was the fur.

"What exactly happened when I was unconscious?...Wait. Didn't I die?.."

While his hair reach his shoulder

Neo is pondering why he was suddenly not hungry or thirsty anymore he looks at his hands and arms , noticing more muscle had grown while he passed out.

"Maybe I was sleeping for months.."

Neo , who look like a girl , would confuse people if he wore short-sleeves top that will show his slim toned arms.

He also notice he felt really light , his arms and hair weren't the only change , his legs and entire body changed.

Neo who was smaller than the rest of the children around his age has now grew to 4"3(130cm) now he would be just slightly above average of others 8 years old.

He then took some tiger and wolf furs and lay them on his shoulder , the furs were so big you could barely spot him.

As expected ,because of his change , the furs weren't heavy at all.

Neo left the dead part of the forest and he sprint toward the other side of the mountain following the road.

As he ran , he felt his speed really fast and his stamina was abnormal,

tears were dropping down his face ,

it wasn't sweat , tears of pain or tears of missing someone, It was tears of the wind smashing against his face while he ran so fast for the first times.

He ran for 4 hours non stop , until he reach a river that has a small wooden bridge over it.

Hmm maybe I don't see any town by the road , maybe It's still far away.

I guess I'll just camp by the river tonight , was the furs, because act like a bed and blanket to keep me warm during the night.

As he set up camp , he gather many branches and build himself a small tent supported by woods , then he drop some rocks in the river to build a small pool , leaving one exit , he built it hoping to catch a fish.

He grinds the branches with a rock to have small thin layers of bark,

he then took a rock in both hand and started rubbing each other to create a spark that would light up the thin layers of bark.

He has his small tent set up , clean furs and a camp fire.

I should dry the fur first by placing it beside the fire , Careful .. not to close.

Neo then makes a wooden spear and went fishing in his little pool.

The pool had at least 4 fish swimming in it because they didn't felt like fighting the river current , they decided to stay in a hotel.

In the end he only manage to catch one fish but that's enough for the night as he didn't feel hungry yet.

Neo sat back down,cook the fish and closed his eyes , concentrated on a black sphere image , a black sphere appeared on his right hand , once again the same fist size.

He tried moving it ,it was slightly faster than usual , he tried changing shape , he succeeded molding it into a roughly 80 cm sword and he was able to carry it and swing it.

Although it looked very thin and fragile , it was surprisingly solid and it look completely invisible if he turn his blade because it is really that thin.

The black sword didn't reflect any light or emit any aura, talking about aura ,I didn't notice any around me when I was casting my black sphere...Is my manacore..

As the moon rise , he lays down and gaze the stars.

Those stars are the only thing keeping Neo on this world.

It wasn't because his manacore is unusual , It's because his aura is so dark , It didn't reflect any light thus making it almost invisible.

But his unusual aura and manacore gives him a advantage in combat , because every living being that uses slightly abit of their mana to generate their affinity will give off their manacore color

Neo is basically perfect for stealth combat or ambush.

Suddenly a brown bear appeared out of the forest , it was likely attracted by the smell of the fish or it was his usual fishing spot.

"What..the , this bear is huge!"

The brown bear was at least 5 meter long and 4 meter high.It was at least 5000 pounds!

"Bu..but... the book says .."

as Neo muttered those words , the bear quickly threw his left claws toward Neo, He dodges it by tumbling clumsily to his right with a run.

The bear followed up by a charge , as the bear get closer , Neo was panicking , the bear swing his left paw and smashed Neo rib cage.

Neo could hear his right rib bones breaking , he flew toward the forest and hit the bottom of the tree.

Blood spitting out from his mouth , he couldn't move his legs and the bear charges at him once again , dealing the finishing blow with his jaw.

Neo lift his hands infront of him out of panic.

Maybe this is really the end for me..

I wish I'd use my sword but I just panicked ... I didn't learn anything at all..

zzzzzzzap

With just a thought of his sword that he created hours ago,a black 80 cm sword appeared from his right hand , he grabs it and held it infront of him , it went inside the bear's mouth and appeared in the back of his neck.

As the bear felt down,it split the skull in half, Neo didn't feel any weight or pressure , It was as if he stabbed the air.

What...I , killed the bear..? It was that easy..?

He then lift his head up and push his back against the tree, smiled and gazed at the stars.

~~~

"W..what happened here?.."

"Lady Ria , please remain in your carriage ,It is not safe here"

Ria-"Then explain to me what happened , and my father hired you to keep me safe! Hmmp"

"My , my, little Ria , you are giving a hard times to mr soldier , and the forest seem to had caught on fire"

Ria-"But sister Cyel!Then why only this part has been burnt and not the rest?"

Cyel-"Hmmmmm , maybe someone put out the fire before it spread anywhere else , but either , we have to be back at Liske within 3 days"

Soldier1-"Yes lady Cyel!, Let's move out soldier, we must make haste!"

Soldier2-"Sir"

Soldier1-"What is it lad?"

Soldier2-"It doesn't look like the forest was caught in a wildfire..It's"

Soldier1-"I know , I noticed the animals, they would of been burnt to ashes"

Soldier2-"Perhaps it was a predator or a vampire?"

Soldier1-"Even if it was , It doesn't explain the weird state of the forest , it clearly didn't burn even if it appeared that way, "*I want to get out of this forest as soon as possible*

Meanwhile in the luxurious carriage pulled by 2 big white horse.

Ria-"Sister Cyel is almost 18 , and sister cyel still doesn't have a boyfriend, why is that?"

Says Ria with a innocent curious expression

Cyel-"Hmmmm, why? Is because big sister haven't found the one yet.

Beside didn't you know Ria? If a boy touches you, you'll get pregnant with a baby in your tummy"

Says Cyel while closing her left eyes and lifting her index finger

Ria-"W.ww..what!?"

Says Ria as she tremble with a scared expression

Cyel giggles at Ria expression

Cyel-"Hohoho, big sister is just kidding , I just really don't have anyone I love, not just yet"

Ria-"Big sister ..you are making fun of me again hmmp..*yawns* I am sleepy.. Im going to sleep , good night sister Cyel"

Cyel-"Mhmm, children do get sleepy early, hohohoho"

Says Cyel while covering her mouth and let out a quiet laugh

Ria-"I am not a child! I am just sleepy because..uhmm..because I had to walk today!"

Ria goes to sleep by simply laying down on the carriage seat which was soft and had pillows both side with a blanket, Cyel also goes to sleep.

While the 6 mounted soldiers around the carriage talks , non of them dare to sleep and let any harm come to the lady, but all 6 of them are really tired and they can only rest tomorrow morning when they arrive at the closest city new Liske kingdom.

The soldiers couldn't rest tonight because they had a fixed schedule,

while the soldiers are busy talking to each other , 3 shadows are following them in the forest.