One man opened his eyes and saw one deer that licked his face. He knew that the deer was trying to wake him up. Not only the deer, there is one bird that pecked his cheek weakly.

He then patted the deer and touched his face for a while. The deer and the bird understood that he was already awake and started to look at him.

The man loosened up a bit and looked at the clear blue sky above him. That scenery is his roof for several years when he lived in the forest as a hermit.

His name is Volya Portar, a magus that stayed at the Wildespring forest that is located at the center of Therious island.

He yawned for a moment and then said, "I can't believe that I met with my father again in my dream."

He then stood up and felt someone push him to the wellspring. He looked behind and saw the deer was the one who pushed him. He smiles a bit and says, "Alright... Alright... I will go there. You don't need to push me."

He patted the deer once more and started to walk towards the water spring. As soon as he walks, he feels someone bit his trousers and tugs it. He peeked below him and could see a small fox tugging his trousers.

He laughs a little bit and lifts the little fox. He put it on his shoulder and said, "You shouldn't bite someone when they are walking. That could be dangerous for you and the other."

The little fox looked at Volya with a puzzled face and then licked Volya's cheek. He smiled a little bit and patted it. He lets the little fox stay on his shoulder as he walks to the water spring.

When he arrived at the water spring, he could see another fox that was bigger than the fox on his shoulder and he understood that the fox was worried about it. Volya smiles, puts the small fox on the ground, and says "Look, your mother is worried about you. Just go there and tell her what you did this morning."

The little fox nodded and ran towards its mother. Volya smiles at them and walks again towards the water. He washes his face and notices a small wound on his cheek.

He touches the wound and remembers what happened the day before. When he was working on a new magic, one of them became out of control and the debris from the explosion scratched his cheek.

He sighs and then puts his hand on his cheek. He takes a deep breath and says, “The flow of ether, lend me the miracle given by God. As I pronounce thy name, protect and heal us from any harm. Healing Light!”

Little by little, the wound closes itself until nothing there. Not even a scar. He looked at his reflection again and was really satisfied with the result. He says, "I must agree with father about this. This type of magic is really handy and a lot of people will need this for healing the sick in their village."

Volya stands up and notices the two foxes already back with the mother showing a dead rabbit in her mouth. He was really surprised and smiled at them. Later he says, "So, this rabbit for me?"

The two foxes nodded at him and Volya showed his gratitude to them. He takes the rabbit from them, puts it on the ground, and takes a stone. He focuses his mind on it and says, “The string of fate ends at this hand. As the hammer of creation changes it, let it be reborn as a new one in this world. Weapon Craft, Stone Knife.”

The stone little bit erodes and becomes a stone knife. Volya plays with the knife a little bit and slices one leaf with it. After he affirms that the stone knife is sharp enough, he starts to skin the rabbit and let the blood flow from it.

While he skinned the rabbit, the two foxes sat beside him and looked after the process. Volya then stands up and gathers some branches for him to light the fire. He then stabs the rabbit with the branch and puts it on the bonfire. Before he does that, he slices up some part of it and points it to the two foxes. He smiles and says, "This portion for both of you. It's to show my gratitude to both of you."

The bigger foxes looked really happy, while the smaller one moved towards Volya. Volya laughs a little bit and pets its fur slowly while waiting for their meal to be ready.

After it was done, he took his portion and the foxes portions and ate them together. After that, he drank from the spring water and looked at the reflection in front of him. He could see the two foxes and several birds looking at the spring water with him. He smiles a little bit and starts to walk again.

He walked together with the small bird towards one of the hills there. From there he could observe his surroundings, especially the forest where he lived since his liberation. He let the wind blow through him as he observed the sea of the tree in front of him under the clear blue sky.

Why has he lived alone in the forest? Where is his family? That's a normal question given to him when they meet him. And most of the time he will answer, 'At first I lived with my foster father and brother until my brother left and my foster father died on that fateful evening.'

And now, he talked with the critters of the forest with his 'Animal Interaction' magic. From there, he could understand what was inside their mind and talk with them. One magic that is really useful for those who lived alone in the forest.

Volya closes his eyes for a while and then says, "For some reason, I feel really lonely here..."

He looked near him and could see the bird really concerned about what he just said. He then smiles and says, "You don't need to worry, I know all of you already did your best to make me feel at home. But,..."

He paused for a while and then continued, "It's been a long time since I talked with another human. Is it one month ago or one year ago? I forgot about that. And I really missed that feeling."

It's been several months since he goes to the nearby village to open his small stall to tell their fortunes. And that's the last time he has a conversation with a human being.

Volya sighed for a little bit and then took out his necklace. He could see the necklace created from a small wood with a small inscription there, 'We will always be together'. And there is one name that is really dear to him even after he was adopted by the Portar Family.

He grasps the necklace and says,

"I remember Father says to me that you are safe from that camp. But, I never heard or met you until now... I'm lonely, you know... But, I believe you are still alive and live well, Big Sis. And I bet you get a good husband with you."

He chuckles a little bit until one of the hawks comes to him and surprises him. The hawk lands on his shoulder and tells him something.

Volya was really surprised to hear that and looked at the direction where the hawk comes. He also focuses his hearing to hear any sound from there. It needs several minutes for him to hear something,

"Give us your belongings!" shouted one man.

"You are really a fool. We will punish all of you because of this." answer another man with a calm tone.

Volya sighs and mumbles,

"Isn't this area a forbidden area for any fight like that? And I think their location is around 50 KM from my place. What the hell are they doing? Robbery in the middle of the forest?"

He looked at the small bird and ordered it to tell the forest critters to evacuate soon. He is afraid that the problem will come and create more problems with the animals. He then puts on his hood and together with the hawk, they start to walk.

He smiles and says, "Let's greet them. I don't want them to disturb my friend here. Right?"

The hawk nods and together with that Volya create a small magic crest in front of him. A navy color crest suddenly vanished and a small hole created there. From there, he could see a very packed tree there. He smiles and jumps to the hole. And from there, he will do everything to protect the forest there.