Squelching and crunching, the sound of mud and pebbles being stepped is heard in the middle of a forest. The storm has died off and the nocturnal wildlife seemed to sang the stillness of the night.

Vernack huffs and puffs as beads of sweat and rain water drip from his drenched body. From a distance, he sees a small cave entrance beside an old tree with no leaves. For him it seemed that the small cave entrance was eerie yet his instincts tell him that nothing is inside.

Getting exhausted after carrying two people both on his shoulders, Vernack mustered up his strength and trailed towards the small cave entrance. However, about twenty meters away from the cave entrance, he suddenly felt a chilling gaze from inside the cave.

Without hesitation, Vernack dropped both Jon and Lutar's unconscious body and drew his bow, his sights directly at the entrance of the cave.

'Please do not be a torbir.' Vernack prays as the atmosphere grew tenser the longer the creature or being inside not leave the cave.

Hoot! The sudden hooting caused him to flinch and look away at the cave for a second, but a second later when he faces the entrance of the cave, the chilling gaze vanished.

Panic. He hastily stands beside the unconscious body of the two and surveys the area around him, ready to release the arrow the second he sees any sudden movements.

Rustle! Vernack immediately releases the arrow at the direction of the bush that was moved. Thud! The arrow hit the dirt but no squeal nor cry of pain was heard when the arrow landed.

'Is it all in my head?' Vernack started to lower his guard, doubting that the gaze and the rustling was caused by a creature out there to kill them.

Moments after waiting for any sign of danger to show, he hangs the bow on his shoulder as if it were a sash and readied to carry the two back on his shoulders.

When he was about to lift Lutar, he suddenly felt imminent danger from his back and jumped forward instantly. Raa! A thunderous roar was heard from behind him and a sharp claw ripped through multiple trees in front of him.

"I should have not wished for it!" Jinxing himself, he uses the last bit of his energy to barely escape the sharp claws of the torbir.

Barely being able to balance himself, Vernack instinctively dodged each swing the torbir made. If Balak were to see this, he would be impressed to see that Vernack is able to evade the torbir, not even harming him nor the two on his shoulders.

The large bear recklessly swung its claws at Vernack, leaving behind chopped down trees, broken branches, and thrashed bushes. It gets increasingly frustrated the longer it takes for it to kill Vernack.

'How am I supposed to kill a magical bear?' Perplexed by Balak's story of how he managed to kill a torbir, Vernack's curiosity rose by the minute.

'Bah! Torbirs are just bears with magic, they are no different from its normal bear counterparts.' Balak said as he wipes the beer off his mouth. 'But since they are big and magical, between its belly and its lungs lay a small circle where its 'wavy tattoo' starts, that is where you can hit if you want it to instantly die.'

'But between the belly and the lungs is only its spleen, would it not be better to hit it on the head?'

'Targeting the head does not change anything.' Balak places a hand on Vernack's shoulder. ' The small circle represents its 'mana heart', it acts as its true heart since it is able to endure harsh environments because it uses mana.'

Remembering what drunk Balak taught him while the torbir is in hot pursuit, countless thoughts were rushing in his mind. Thinking what he should do to hide Lutar and Jon while letting the furious bear only target him, he suddenly sees a faint light under a large tree. Without thinking twice, he sprints toward the faint light and jumping over fallen trees.

Thump! Raa! The amount of trees being felled by the torbir increases as it claws its way through the forest. The 'wavy tattoo' all over the body of the torbir glowed in a faint blue light and the claws of the large bear suddenly have a thin layer of blue light.

Not noticing the changes on the bear, Vernack raced towards the faint light as buckets of sweat rolls down his face, his expression seemed calm but his mind in turmoil.

Swoosh! A moment later a strange blue wave of light passed over his head. Thump! Wherever the wave of light passed the bushes and trees were instantly chopped down as if it were butter.

Vernack's complexion worsened the moment he saw the trees fall soon after the wave of light passed it.

"Balak! You senile dog, you could have at least told me these fucking bears send sharp waves than just telling me that they were magical!" Shocked by the development of the situation, he cursed at the sky as he trips over a tree chopped by the torbir.

Thump! The large steps of the torbir shakes the ground near Vernack the closer it got to him. Vernack hastily removed the bow from his shoulder and grab an arrow.

'This is bad!' When Vernack tries to grab an arrow from his quiver, he felt nothing. Doubting his unlucky predicament, he checks his quiver on the side to make sure that he really did not have arrows anymore.

His expression went dour when he finally realized that he lost all of his arrows. Under the moonlight, he hysterically searched the area around him hoping to at least see one arrow to use against the ferocious torbir.

Raa! The menacing roar shook the forest, even the wolves and snakes nearby Vernack ran the moment they hear it. Overwhelmed by the roar, Vernack stopped dead on his search and laid on the ground as if instinctively playing dead.

The instant he laid on the ground, he sees a trail of arrows in front of him. Ecstatic by the sight, he pushed himself off the ground and swiftly grabbed several arrows.

Swoosh! Knowing that the torbir could send sharp waves from its claws, Vernack felt the imminent danger approaching him. He speedily lays on the ground and a second later a sharp wave of light barely trimmed off the ends of his hair.

'Wooh, that was close.' He then draws his bow, now with an arrow in its string, and aims it towards the direction where the torbir was approaching him.

Seconds later, the torbir enters Vernack's line of sight. Its massive body was enough to push some of the trees away and its gaze dead set on Vernack.

Fwoo! The moment he saw a glimpse of the torbir, he released an arrow directly at it, not minding what part of its body to hit. As soon he released the first one, he then drew another one and released it without thinking.

Raa! One of the arrows penetrated the torbir's thick skin causing the large bear to recklessly send out another sharp wave towards Vernack.

Seeing that another wave of light was sent out, he took off from his position and lured the large bear away from Lutar and Jon. As he was trailing off, he would occasionally see an arrow or two from where the large bear broke through.

Raa! Thump! The torbir turned around and ran towards Vernack's direction, occasionally sending a sharp wave of light that would slow Vernack for a moment allowing it to catch up.

Vernack's mind raged with ideas on how to kill the bear but he slowly feels the exhaustion slowly overcoming him after constantly running from the torbir for an hour.

"Damn it! I will face it head on then!" Vernack suddenly stops on his track and turns to face the large bear, ready to shoot all of his arrows against it.

"Gahhh! Die fiend!" Second later, the moment he saw a glint of light coming from its eyes, he rapidly releases all of his arrows. However, the torbir's wavy tattoo glowed once more and a thin sheet of blue light covers all over the large bear.

When the arrows hit the thin layer of light it instantly broke into pieces. Vernack's heart fell the moment he saw the arrows break without even harming the layer of light. Distraught, he falls to the ground and readied his death as he could only stare at the eyes of the torbir in fear.

Raa! The torbir raised its claw and a thin blue light layers itself over its claw, then it starts to swing its claw against Vernack.

In Vernack's eyes, time seemed to move slow as memories of his past flashed at every moment the claw of the torbir moved.

"Grama... Chief... I will be with you soon." Tears roll down his cheeks as in between the falling claws, the figures of Grandmother Bliss and Pyrlord stood beside a flash of light as if waiting for him to join them.

Before the torbir could land a hit on him, a sound of clopping is heard from the right side of the large bear. In a sudden, a dark warhorse came out of the dark forest and jumped at the face of the torbir.

Guh! The large bear bawled as the front hooves of the horse stomps on its face pushing it down on the ground. Neigh! The horse landed on the ground safely and hastily approached Vernack.

One moment Vernack felt he was dead, the next he felt that something was licking his face. Curious, he opens one eye to see what is licking him only to see a familiar figure in front of him.

His heart pounded and his expression lightened, he could not believe that the horse he stole five seasons ago, the horse who protected them dearly the moment they rode him was right in front of him.

"Bale, you still live!" He tightly embraced the warhorse as tears of sorrow turn to tears of joy and chills turn to warmth. "Thank you for coming at the right moment Bale!"

The horse licks his back and as it felt the fear in him to dissipate. Suddenly, the horse felt danger behind it, so it lifted Vernack from the ground using its neck while he still embraced him and raised its body to move Vernack on its back. Feeling that Vernack was on its back while tightly holding on to its neck, it immediately galloped away from the area.

Swoosh! A second later a sharp wave of light appeared where Vernack and Bale were, leaving a three large claw marks on the ground.

"Woah Bale, you could at least have given a sign that you were going to lift me!" He scolded the horse but his grin reached from cheek-to-cheek, despite being chased by a murderous bear, he felt ecstatic knowing that Bale is still alive and well.

"Wait, Bale! We have to go back, Jon and Lutar are opposite from here and they are unconscious, we need to save them first." Vernack said, remembering the reason why he chased the torbir away.

After hearing what he said, Bale suddenly made a sharp turn and galloped towards the torbir despite its instinct telling it to move in a different direction.

"Bah! If only I had more arrows or at least saved one, I could try to shoot at it while riding you Bale!" Vernack sounded his regret, holding on to its neck.

Neigh! Bale neighed as if responding to Vernack's regret and looked back at him, its eye shining under the moonlight.

As its eye reflected the moonlight, Vernack felt safe around the horse, as if the horse spoke some wisdom that made him feel warm and secured around it.

Raa! The torbir was about ten meters in front of them and was ready to swing its claw again, when suddenly Bale made a sharp left turn, hiding itself under the torbir's twice the human-sized foreleg.

Noticing that the torbir was slow to turn its body, Bale hastened its pace and galloped onward to the trail that the torbir left behind, in order to backtrack jon and Lutar's location.

"Great job Bale!" Vernack joyfully said as he rubs Bale's neck.

Raa! The torbir's anger only grew when the two would barely escape its grasp constantly. The marks on its body this time shone brightly, the light erupted from its body and dug underground.

As Bale was galloping as fast it could, the ground beneath them started to shake and large cracks started to form. Feeling the ground shaking, Bale instinctively leaped forward and a second later, boom! A burst of light erupted from the position they were just on.

"What the--" Before Jon could finish his sentence, Bale once more leapt forward and another burst of light erupted from the position they were previously on.

"Balak! You never told me this fucking monster can make the ground explode!" He cursed at the sky once again as the ground behind them would erupt occasionally.

Raa! Thump! The thunderous roar of the torbir echoed throughout the forest, and in response to its roar, wolves began to howl and other normal bears began to roar. The stillness of the night was broken by the deafening cries of the forest's predators.

The peaceful nocturnal wildlife instantly sheltered themselves the moment the thunderous roar was heard all over the forest. The first moon, Mus, seemed to shine bright in response to the cries of the wildlife and the body of the torbir erupted with light as the lights shift and twist, it seemed to form a distinguishable copy of itself.

Not knowing what danger was occurring behind them, Vernack would continuously curse on Balak for not teaching him everything about the monstrosity that the torbirs are. However, he starts to feel familiarity to the broken trail in front of him, he felt that they were getting near to Jon and Lutar's position.

****

Raa! The thunderous roar echoed on further as the winds would direct the sound everywhere. A squad of lightly armored footmen, with one of them having a shield painted with the symbol of a deer with four hands holding a staff and at the top of the staff was a crown which meant they were under the Dukedom of Cristos, were patrolling around a castle when they suddenly hear the bone-chilling cry of the torbir.

"By Ialonia! What waked this monster!" One of the footmen snapped his head towards the source of the noise.

"That sounded close, better if we alarm the Baron." The footman with the shield nonchalantly said.

"By the sound of that, must be the 'Guardian of Meyvil's Domain' that has guarded that forest for hundreds of seasons now." Another footmen wielding a military hammer surmised.

"Well whatever it is, we have to alert the Baron and prepare for any horror that may come upon this castle." The footman with the shield left the group and walked towards the castle door.

****

"Milord, it seemed the horrible sound came from the direction near that Slies' castle resides." Trable, one of the officers of Volux Supriar's cavalry, reported.

"Their predicament does not concern us nor do I ever plan on heading towards that monster, let those Cristos tire from fighting that beast and we can swoop in later." Volux confidently said, but his hands gripping on the reins of his steed were shaking.

"Splendid plan, milord!" Trable bowed and pulled the reins of his horse to not gallop beside their Count.

****

"Faster Bale, this monster is only getting faster by the second!" Vernack could not help but scream as the number of light erupting from the ground doubled since a few minutes ago.

Neigh! Bale once more leaped forward and while in mid-air it felt another imminent danger approaching from the side. Suddenly, light erupted out of thin air, directly hitting Bale and knocking both Vernack and the horse twenty-some meters.

"Gah!" Vernack lands on the side of a tree as he spat out the last thing he ate a few hours ago.

Beugh! The horse whimpers as it lands on a rock and barely cracking the rock. Bale struggles to stand as it sensed another light that would erupt from its side.

Using almost all of its energy, it leaps towards Vernack and outbalances when it lands on the ground, lying beside the exhausted Vernack.

'Jon, Vernack, both of you from now on will learn how to store mana from within and be able to use it at times when you truly need it!' Pyrlord's voice echoed in Vernack's mind.

'Although I may not be a mage, but many soldiers I have met have at least utilized mana in their own way, and the most effective utilization is by using it to boost one's constitution and physical strength in times of trouble!" Pyrlord circled Jon and Vernack as he continues his lecture.

'As we have observed from the wildlife throughout the seasons, mana is basically one of the most important needs in surviving in the wild."

'But chief, I heard that we can only nurture our mana if we were born in existing mana fields, and I remember that Meadow Cross had no existing mana field.' Vernack raised his concern with genuine curiosity.

'That is true, and that is why I chose this riverside as our training area from this day onwards, because for the next thousand seasons before the 'Great Earthquake' this riverside will be constantly supplied with mana by the world itself. In here you and Jon will nurture your mana control.'

'Very good Vernack, I can sense that the mana inside of you is slowly forming, do not rush because if you rush, you will only destroy your chance in having a compact mana capacity.'

'In contrary, Jon! Are you being lazy or are you not controlling your mana, I cannot sense not even a hint of mana inside you!'

'I am doing my best chief! But nothing is happening the more I try to do it.' Jon complains as he lays down on the rock bed.

'Child, it takes determination to control it, perfect mana control cannot be achieved in a day! Stand up and go hunt for food with Balak!'

The voices from that time echoed in his head and slowly fades away as he feels the warmth inside his heart slowly spread all over his body.