There are certain things that the reader must understand before continuing with this chapter. The following events are being retold exactly as they have happened. Although it isn't exactly normal for a history text to address the reader directly, this aside is an important distinction that must be understood to comprehend the magnitude of the occurrences detailed herein. The first thing that must be explained is what mana is and what it can and can not do, when used to perform magic.

Mana, as most high enough classed Bide know, is the lifeblood of the mind. It is the essence in which creativity thrives, and the universe provides an outlet for it readily for those who seek it. There is only so much that a mind can hold before it threatens to overtake the sensibilities of the person holding the mana in their mind. So, much like a regularly maintained dam, which is designed so that water is released through designated channels, the mind which is storing mana must allow a regular relief of the building pressure - often through training the mind to do new tasks it hasn't had much experience with or has not done before at all. This is why many magic users who haven't been able to upgrade their tolerance (or strengthen their dam) both seek out new experiences and use the mana for magic like it's going to disappear if they don't, because, quite literally, it may do just that. Failure to release the pressure on the "dam" may result in a sudden burst as the dam breaks, followed by the flood and then the drought as the mana forms new channels elsewhere, if the magic user even survives the burst.

This is the main reason why not many beasts can perform magic. They lack the creativity and wisdom to be able to properly use it multiple times, instead of just once like most usually do. If there happens to be a beast that is able to use magic much like any of the Bide races, it is more often than not, a singular occurrence. A unique variation of the species it is a part of, instead of a representative of the entire species. That, is why almost no one hears about beasts using magic, as most of those who can, have hidden away from the world and reside solely in the domain of their ancestors. Such a creature is a precious commodity to a god, so it is natural that they are hoarded. However, there was in fact one beast that had not been forbidden from leaving their original domain. In fact, he was quite encouraged to do so.

The wolf-tree, which calls itself Kojo, was that singular creature. Now, he could use mana regularly. Like most beasts, he had no access to spells, as such; he mostly relied on using his mana to change his physical structure and the simple enhancements to his thinking abilities took up much of his available access to mana at the time. So when he came into contact with a spell, and he heard the Voice of the Gods echo through his mind, it was understandable for his concentration to falter, especially given the content of the message from the Voice of the Gods.

Somehow, in some way, he had been given a spell.

As with most abilities, there are, of course, natural ways to get spells. By immersing oneself in the search for knowledge of it, by finding tomes inscribed with the descriptions of the magical permutations in which mana must be used for that specific effect to occur, or even through specific allowances of class features. All of these methods, of course, need a certain level of intelligence to properly understand how to read, search, or comprehend what the instructions actually mean. However, it is a mostly unspoken rule that one cannot simply push a spell into another being's mind. If one were to do so, according to common wisdom, it would almost certainly lead to that mind repeatedly performing that one task until all mana was used from the body. For most, however, that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Mana, in essence, is just an application of a person's ability to imagine an outcome and enforce a will to make it happen. However, there is also one other aspect to it that most do not actively acknowledge, or at least do not openly discuss. Access to, and use of mana, could be considered a measure of sapience coinciding with sentience.

The more mana that a being is able to control, the more that the mind that holds it can move in various ways. This is, more often than not, why beasts are treated as they are. Since they have no mana most of the time, they are not treated much like the Bide and why beasts with magic are sought and hoarded. This, however, is also a double edged blade. If a beast with magic was to suddenly lose all their mana from an imparted spell, they would be forced back into becoming a beast. This is why it is usually so dangerous for a spell to be forced upon a beast's mind, if it had one.

However, the manner in which the spell had been gifted was strange to say the least. It had been shared instead of forced upon him.

This distinction is key. For while the intent of the action remained the same, the manner in which it was performed did not force the receiving mind to immediately trigger the effect and spend all their mana down to a trickle from a flood. Instead, it gave the recipient the choice of whether or not to use the spell. Although sharing spells isn't that unusual of an occurrence in the grand history of the world, it should be noted as an exception here, simply because this was most definitely the grandest use of the perfected [Animal Companion] skill that had ever been done before. No one before the entity known as Dave had been able to push so much into the connection before. No one even knew that so much could be pushed upon a companion. Sure, people had conveyed purely physical skills and abilities through the connection before, but few had shared mental ones, let alone a fully conceived spell.

Before now, not much was known about Dave. He was a mystery, even to the gods, since the day he had manifested within this world. So, knowing the content of what was transferred to Kojo was both a blessing and a curse for any divine trying to find knowledge about him. His actions with Kojo certainly brought him to the attention of more than one divinity, however. Somehow, Dave had managed to, in one go, share - instead of force - the following six abilities and skills, all filled with magical capabilities.

[Read Magic] Lv 10

[Speed] Lv 8

[Endurance] Lv9

[Recovery] Lv Max

[Regenerate] Lv Max

[Growth] Lv Max

Altogether, giving any combination of things within this list to an individual is basically a declaration that the individual will become a hardy [Druid] or [Mage] in training. Giving it to a beast, however, essentially makes that beast a force of nature. Giving these abilities to a beast which was already on its own path to become a force of nature, well, it essentially became a divine [Reincarnate].

With that explanation concluded, reader, you understand why the stone visage of Feldur twisted in pain almost as fast as he recognized that he was actually in pain. For in front of him, seeming to draw strength from the water and earth that was a part of the fountain, stood a new Kojo. One that seemed to be more plant than wolf. His eyes were the only thing that had stayed in-between his transformation but all else had changed. Roots grew from him in droves and dove into the earth. Leaves grew to the sky, seemingly pulsating with blood. Veins snaked through the wooden trunks which made up the core of his body. Wooden vines plugged up the hole in the fountain, drinking and draining the crystal clear water and even though Kojo had now grown into the earth itself becoming immobile, tendrils emerged from his form and struck forward with an unearthly snap, enwrapping the entire body of Feldur.

In that split second, Feldur concluded there was only one of two ways that this situation could pan out with himself getting out of this alive. Either he could try to use his strength to break the wood binding him, which concerningly seemed to be getting stronger as time went on, or he could go with the option which bypassed strength entirely. So, begrudgingly going with the second option, he once again began to move through the earth, away from the grasping vines. Unfortunately, and oddly, he was stopped immediately from doing anything too deep. Amongst the dirt, worms, and various rocks within his vision and his aura, he saw that his pathway had been blocked by what he considered to be an inordinate amount of roots, and judging from the eyes that were opening upon them and the fact that they were focusing on him, the wooden creature was able to see him. For the first time in a long while, Feldur was now actually becoming scared. Knowing he did not have much time, instead of wasting more time trying to escape the shell of roots, he raced through the earth toward the creature, hoping to get to the center of the sphere of roots that had formed. The roots surrounding him just seemed to keep on getting thicker and longer as the seconds went by, roping inward through the earth, trying to grasp at him. Feldur realized that he only had one chance to deal with this oaken foe; He had to cut off the connection between the trunk and the roots. That should buy him ample time to actually damage it enough that it would no longer be a thorn in his side while he dealt with Credonz. So, with an abundance of confidence, he pushed himself directly into the middle of Kojo and reshaped his arm.

Everything around him was either trying to squeeze the life out of him or tear him apart. Thorny roots tore at his arms and legs while thick, grasping roots pulled his those same limbs apart, and it was being done with such ferocity that Feldur could barely replace their substance before being torn sunder again. He only had one chance at dealing with this. One fleeting hope. He could not run away now. That option had closed to him once he saw those eyes on the roots making the sphere trying to form him. It could track him through the earth, and it seemed to be able to move through the earth even faster than when he surged through it. His only hope now was that one weakness that all plants had, that he could exploit. However, when he reached what seemed to be the center of it all, it was not there. Regardless of where he turned, or what sections of earth he combed through, no matter which way he looked, it wasn't there, and with each passing moment he was being further torn apart. Despite his appearance as a plant, Kojo did not have a main trunk, only a fibrous shell. There was nothing that could be cut to disconnect the roots from the tree. With that realization, all hope fled from Feldur, and with one final prayer to Belun, Feldur was downgraded to dust. At some unspoken mark, Kojo's form no longer writhed into the ground, and the shaking of his roots through the earth slowed to a still. And, for a moment, the veins stilled with blood and the eyes closed upon the bark, leading to the image of a aged tree having been grown in negligence with wrinkles dotting its surface. And then, almost like a cocoon, a head burst open from the trunk, releasing all the dust that had accumulated within the space unto the air, before the rest of Kojo's newly hatched form had shed all the extra growth he had undergone, his previous form bursting forth from the now caved in chest of the pulsating green wolf clawing out of the tree, before it all lost whatever spark drove the pulsing. The tree, which used to be him, no longer had veins which pulsed with life, and while leaves were still growing much like a normal trees, they were no longer filled with blood. Instead, the blood that had filled them had seemed to pool in certain places before blooming into various colored flowers with petals that aged just as rapidly to deal with the excess within the trunk, fell into the refilled and clear water of the fountain, its source no longer being sucked dry and blocked..

Throughout all of this exchange, Credonz had only been giving half of his attention to the fight. To be fair, the fight was incredible when it was visible and he was thoroughly astonished at what he could see, but because much of it was taking place underneath the cobblestones, and he had his hands full trying to stop the entire cavity within Dave's chest from bleeding out, it was somewhat understandable that he didn't exactly keep track of what was going on. So, when Kojo, seemingly weakened from the exchange, stepped forth from the tree he had become and left behind something that, while still alive, wasn't brimming with life like it had before, Credonz prepared hastily to enter battle from a losing battle. To him, it was almost a certainty that Kojo had somehow lost the fight due to the youngness of the [Champion] before him. After staying alert for several seconds while the growth further slowed and eventually stopped, the mass now more properly resembling a tree, even with the impressions of half-closed eye cavitys, and nothing else happening, Credonz relaxed his preparation for an imminent attack. Even so, Kojo had to interrupt his dwindling battle senses.

"Is...is he okay?"

At that, the man shook his head and looked at the slightly bigger [Chosen]. "What?"

"Is Dave ok?" With that prompt, Credonz remembered he still had someone he had to check upon, and when he looked back at the prone member of the Bide, he marveled. For, somehow, his heart was still beating, and his chest was slowly closing up. This was simply unnatural healing capabilities, something which he could only ever recall monsters having. It was known that some Bide were able to take aspects of monsters into their own being, but at most it was a temporary thing. Nothing that would stay with them in life like a regular [Affinity].

"It seems to be that he will. He might just need a lot of rest for it to heal." He spoke as he marveled at the one laid out before him. At that, Kojo sighed and sat on the steps to the church.

"Good. If he had died without me paying back my debt...I would've..." Kojo's words seemed to soften and almost go down to a whisper, as he stared at his friend.

"Is there a place he can rest?" At the kobolt's query, Kojo started.

"Yes! We have a room at an inn a little ways away." Credonz nodded.

"Good. Well, I'll try to carry him there. Lead the way." And so, their merry band had come together. Kojo prowled the streets sniffing corners and looping around alleyways, while Credonz carried the man on his back and dragged along his rucksack. It was only after a couple feet did Credonz realize something rather important.

"How are you able to talk?"

Kojo turned around and stopped in the street. "What do you mean?"

"Well, aren't beasts meant to...not be able to do that?"

Kojo scoffed at the remark. "All beasts are capable of speech. It's only a matter of how well we're able to move our tongues rather than the body language that you all seem incapable of reading."

Credonz looked at him curiously. "So, Ounder had nothing to do with it?"

Kojo's face slackened from its stern glare before looking toward the ground. "He might've."

"Aha! Then you weren't able to learn how to speak naturally!"

Kojo coughed a bit before turning and heading back down the road. "Just because I wasn't able to figure out how you all exactly talk without help doesn't mean I'm not intelligent enough to..."

Kojo's voice faded into the background as both Credonz and him touched on points in rigorous discussion of the intelligence of beasts. above the street, a small pile of dust gathers on a roof, and a single feminine voice speaks clearly, ringing, if anyone had been around to hear it.

"I understand, but with that you are no longer useful to me." Silence seems to gather for a moment before she spoke once again from thin air.

"Can you do what must be done even with how you are?" A silent pause.

"Good. Even with your title now handed to someone else, I am glad that at least you stay faithful." A quite chuckle occured filled with dangerous femininity. However, for some reason, it abruptly stopped.

"You will only need one more Kobolt. After that, you will have what you desire." The same voice let out abruptly, seemingly giving an air of being tired.

"No. I cannot help like that. You will have to figure something out yourself." And with that, the one sided conversation come to a halt as the voice seemed to fade away and leave the air as quiet as when the voice spoke. Wind began to rush along the roof, and despite what should've occurred, the dust that laid upon the roof and some of the road had, instead, managed to somewhat coagulate together in the breeze, holding itself together as a small somewhat coherent cloud, as the breeze blew the particles steadily towards the direction of the receding pair.