"Please Goddess, let me find something today," said Sol desperately. He picked up the thick wooden stick and entered the small forest behind the edge of the village.
Sol quickly looked around, "I hope no one saw me."
He was wearing self-made wooden armor: two wooden plates tied together by rope for protecting the front and back, wooden guards on hands and legs, a metal bowl on the head, and a thick wooden stick. He would be embarrassed if someone saw him, but more than that he was afraid of getting caught because the forest was prohibited for children, even though there were no dangerous beasts. However, Sol had been going in and out for fourteen days.
"I hope I find a beast today. But, are there any in this forest," Sol looks around. "I have been searching for fourteen days, all I saw were harmless beasts who ran away immediately."
"Should I go to Deep Forest?" Sol thought. "But the hill is a little far away and… dad said forests are something that even adults avoid and one doesn't enter that easily without an adventurer." He continues to walk and search for the beast.
"Deep forest and Dark forest....the forests of this world are really something huh! There's even a dungeon in a dark forest…..I wish I could go there someday - to the dungeon of the red forest."
In Vida, people had categorized forests into two on basis of danger: Deep Forest and Dark Forest. Deep forests were dark green dense forests were beasts, mutant beast habitats. Whether they were on hills or plain lands, there wouldn't be a village or town near to it.
Dark forests were darker than Deep forests. Some Dark forests would have red forests with red plants and trees. This is where the dungeon would be. Due to its color, it was called a red forest. Things that lived inside were different and dangerous compared to outside.
Sol walked around searching for the beast but he did not find any. The forest was small and thin. There weren't dangerous beasts that he wished for. That was the reason why the village was never attacked by dangerous beasts. Such beasts were in hills that were a little far away from the village, across the river.
"A mutant beast," said Sol, looking at one of the branches of a tree. He was almost at the end of the forest when he finally saw a beast. Sol quietly hid behind one of the trees and observed it.
"Dark shining spikes, dark claws, complete purple color, and large body…Yup, that's a mutant beast, a mutant flying squirrel," thought Sol while observing the beast.
"It's my first time seeing a mutant beast. It looks…cool," said Sol. "But why is it here, in such a small forest. Shouldn't it be in the Dense Forest or in the Dark Forest?"
The beast Sol saw was a one-feet mutant brown flying squirrel which was different from the normal one. Mutant beasts were those who have transformed either by living or going in the dungeons or by consuming dungeons' things. Their appearances and size would change and they would become aggressive.
The mutant beast was eating a little bird, tearing it apart by its sharp claws and sharp teeth on one of the top branches of the tree. The dead bird's blood was dripping and somebody's parts fell on the ground and other branches under it.
"I'm glad I found one, but….can I defeat it....with my small body? They say, even a small harmless beast that turned into a mutant beast could hurt people." Sol watched the beast devour its prey.
"No..wasn't this my plan from the beginning? To put my life in danger and to see...if that red creature would appear again," Sol thought. "And I don't know whether I will have mana in the future or not. So this is the only way. I need to see that red creature again."
After the incident that happened five years ago, Sol hadn't seen the creature since then. There wasn't a day when he hadn't thought about the incident and his mother. Even though he didn't have mana, he always felt like there was a way for him to get strong. The creature that saved him before was his way and his chance. He had many questions and he thought that he could get something from that creature.
The creature was dark red with many solid tentacles, it had a head, unlike an octopus. Horn grew from eyes that curved back over the head. It had a big mouth with sharp teeth.
"Okay! Let's do this. The worst thing that can happen is, either I am going to get hurt really bad or I will lose eyes or ears something like that." Sol tightened his grip that held the wooden stick. He came out and looked at the mutant beast.
"Oi! Beast," Sol shouted. Then he stuck out his tongue and teased the beast.
The mutant beast got furious and roared, showing its sharp teeth. Sol turned behind and ran. The mutant flying squirrel jumped from the branch, spread its hands, and flew towards him angrily.
Sol ran from tree to tree as fast he could. The mutant flying squirrel flew from one tree to another. Sol would turn around to see how close it was. He ran for a few seconds then stopped. He held the sword tightly with his two hands in front of him. He maintained a distance from the trees that the mutant beast would fly from.
"When it approaches near to attack me, that's when I will hit it as hard as I can," thought Sol while watching the beast who was about to fly towards him.
The mutant flying squirrel jumped and flew from the tree. It flew down towards Sol with sharp claws roaring. The mutant beast was closing in straight. Sol raised the wooden stick above the head with both hands with a strong grip. Then he swung the stick vertically with all his force. The mutant flying squirrel screamed and fell to the ground.
"Is it dead?" Sol poked it with the stick.
The mutant flying squirrel wasn't dead. It got up quickly, getting more pissed. Sol was startled and fell on his bottom while trying to move back quickly. He dropped the stick.
Sol thought, "Shit! I should have brought a knife or some kind of sharp object."
The mutant beast roared and jumped on him. Sol closed his eyes and covered his face with one hand.
Suddenly from the back of Sol a silver tentacle appeared and coiled the mutant beast before it could reach his face. The mutant beast screamed as its body was constricted by the solid silver tentacle.
Sol opened his eyes and was surprised at what he saw. He looked at the mutant beast that was lifted, it wasn't moving. Then he slowly looked at the thing that coiled the mutant flying squirrel. He took out his metal bowl from his head and stood up slowly while looking at the silver tentacle and touched it.
The tentacle was round, hard as metal, and silver in color. It had pointed front and thick nodes on its body.
Sol was confused for a few seconds. "Oh…Yeah!!!" he shouted with excitement. "I knew there was a way." Three more silver tentacles appeared from Sol's back. Now Sol had altogether four silver tentacles on his back. The tentacles were alive and moving.
"Whoa!...this thing is alive," said Sol while looking at the silver tentacles. Then he observed the mutant flying squirrel closely. "Whoa! Looking at it closely, this fellow is really cool and scary. Is it dead?" Sol thought about poking the mutant beast with one of the tentacles. Then one tentacle poked the mutant beast. "Whoa! Did it read my mind?" The mutant flying squirrel woke up and screamed while trying to free itself from the tentacle that coiled it.
"Shit! That scared me," said Sol, "You're still alive. Huh! Thanks to you I got some cool power you know. Hehe
"Should I kill it?... They say when a beast dies its heart turns into either mana stone or magic stone, but…not all beast," thought Sol. He grinned and said, "I wonder what your heart will turn into." The mutant beast was struggling and screaming to free itself.
"Crush it," said Sol. The silver tentacle that coiled around the mutant beast constricted it with more force. The mutant flying squirrel struggled while screaming. In a few seconds, it died.
"Shall we look at its heart," said Sol. Then the tentacle uncoiled revealing the beast's body. Another tentacle pierced it halfway in the middle of its body. Its blood was flowing and organs were falling. "Where's the heart?" Sol looked inside it. "I can't find it… I don't even know where it is and how it looks like," Sol sighed.
Then he saw an organ that was turning into a stone. It was a small heart, it turned into a purple stone. Sol watched it curiously. It was his first time seeing something like that.
"So it takes time to turn into stone, huh!" said Sol while taking out the stone from the dead mutant flying squirrel. "So this is magic stone …or mana stone. It's small…is it because the beast itself is small?" Sol looked at the stone closely carrying it with two fingers. The purple stone was about one inch. "Is it mana stone or magic stone?" he wondered. "I will think about it later," He said and kept the stone inside the pocket.
The village didn't have any adventurer, mage, or magic warrior, or anyone who would teach them about such stones and things. And beasts like cows, chickens did not produce such stones when they were killed. The villagers knew little about the stone but they weren't interested as it wasn't their job and they wouldn't take a risk to obtain such stones.
Mana stone contained mana, it was a magic energy stone whereas magic stone contained some ability as well as mana.
Sol was taken back looking at the hanging dead mutant beast with blood dripping and organ exposed. "I can't believe I killed it and tore it that easily, even though it's my first kill." thought Sol. "What to do with its body? I would love to eat it but first, let me check out this silver thing I got." Sol dropped the dead mutant beast on the ground and started checking the four silver tentacles.
Sol found that those silver tentacles were made from some kind of metal and were alive. They could act on their own or could be controlled by him. The tentacles could only appear from the upper body. However, two things made him confused as well as curious. One was that those silver tentacles were not attached to his back or body even though they appeared from there. The second was that, do they need the mana of Sol or not.
"Don't I have to lend mana to it?" said Sol. "Did you - just now, answer me in my mind?" Sol was surprised that the silver tentacles could communicate with him. "So, I can control you without mana huh." The tentacle could only give some kind of signal or feeling, it couldn't give a long answer.
"Shall we see what you can do?" Sol started testing the silver tentacles, he moved them, made them attack, and did other things. After more than half an hour he figured out what it could do.
"Looks like I can make it attack with its body, pierce, coil, constrict, grab and throw for the offense. - And its length is about thirteen meters.- And for defense, it can block, or coil around me completely making a sphere to cover me," thought Sol while trying those moves. "It's not bad.
"But why can't I make it to lift myself," he wondered as he moved the tentacles around. "Is it because it's not directly attached to me?" Sol had tried to lift himself but he couldn't.
"I wanted the red creature to appear but instead these silver tentacles appeared. Well, it did prove that I have a way to become strong," thought Sol. "But, will this be enough?" Sol pierced the tree in front of him. "No, I need more power for what I have planned to do.
"Do I have something more than this?" thought Sol. A tentacle answered in his mind. Sol was surprised by its answer. "What? ..I have."
Then one of the silver tentacles turned into a white snake with red eyes.
"Whoa!! You can do that too."
The white snake took out a thick book from its mouth like it has stored it inside its body.
"I wasn't expecting that," said Sol. He pulled in two silver tentacles and now was with one silver tentacle on one side and a white snake on the other side. Then, he picked up the thick book.
The book had hardcovers. It was mostly black in color with some red designs on the front and back cover. On the front cover, there was a closed horizontal eye in the middle, and on top of it was the title.
"Is this what you mean," said Sol while looking at the book. He looked at the front cover and noticed a horizontal closed eye-like figure. "It looks like an eye," He freaked out a little and looked at the words on top of it. The words were not of this world but Japanese. "It's in Japanese," said Sol.
Sol read the title, "Deva: The King's Grimoire." Then the book opened its one eye.