「Year 950, day 149, Elfen territory, Bee Forest, 08 am.」
...
"I don't get it..."
"You are not yet fully recovered, but you can do the basics."
"And what is the basic?"
"Let's start slow, running. Come with me Kalui!"
Roldi started to run slowly, with the boy trying to keep up with him.
"Wait for me Roldi!" - Shouted the child, panting.
"I can't wait for you. If you want to run beside me, you will have to get faster."
A few minutes later, the boy began to run, dragging his feet, more slowly and half crooked.
"Roldi, I don't know why, but I feel like I've done this before."
"It's normal. Every child has run!"
The two continued running for another thirty minutes.
"Roldi!" - He threw himself on his butt and asked angrily. "I'm tired, are we going somewhere?!"
"You can do it. Get up and let's go!"
"Okay…"
Another two hours passed. It had been a long time since they had stopped running and started walking.
"We have arrived."
Confused, Kalui asked:
"Where?"
It did not look like they had arrived anywhere, since they were in the same forest.
"We are now in the center of the Bee Forest. Try to eat some fruit, just climb a tree."
"Are they different from the fruits you normally give me?"
"Climb a tree and find out! Just do not go too far, there is a treacherous cliff around here."
Kalui looked around intently, looking for the smallest possible fruit tree; he walked around a bit and found the smallest tree in the area. With his thin childish arms, the boy began to climb. For Roldi it would be enough to lift his arms, but for Kalui, a tree that was two and a half meters high, was too high.
After managing to climb up with some difficulty, Kalui stands in the middle of the trunk - on a border between branches - looking at the fruit in front of him. He stretched out his arm to the fullest and jumped, grabbing the fruit before it fell to the ground.
'I really did it... Maybe my power is to climb.'
"Roldi, she is just like one of the ones you gave me before... Red and round.
"Eat it and you will understand."
The instant he took a bite, he realized that the fruit was much sweeter than usual. As he took it out of his mouth, a thick liquid began to ooze out.
"She is full of honey! Why does she have honey?"
"It is very simple. There are two species of bees. The Giant Bees, which produce their honey in their large hives on top of high hills, and the Fly Bees, which are small and grow their honey inside fruit."
"Wow! How big are the Gant Bees?"
"Giant Bees, you mean? hahaha!" - He put his hand on Kalui's head. – "If I'm a little over two meters tall, you must be about one meter thirty, so the Giant Bees must be between thirty and fifty centimeters tall and one meter long."
Sitting down and eating his fruit quietly, Kalui said:
"Wow... Anyway, that's the end of the training for today, right?"
"No. Warm-up is over. Let us go back, eat, and start combat training."
'Why do I always ask? I don't really learn...'
After the two had eaten, they returned to the stream a few yards from the hut. While Roldi wrapped his hands and shins with a thick comforter, he explained:
"Well, let's start with the pattern. You will try to hit me, and when you succeed, I will bring you another fruit with honey. You have two hours, after that we will train our bodies with basic exercises, such as push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. You probably do not know what these are, but it is good to explain them first. Calm down, it's normal not to be able to do much at first, but remember that" - he lifts the boy's head and says it loudly. – "As long as you don't stop trying, you haven't failed yet! Are you ready?"
"No!"
"What do you mean, no?"
"I can't beat you and I want to eat!"
"Unfortunately you will only eat those fruits again when you hit me; or you can try your luck by going to the center of the forest alone. Shall we begin?"
…
...
...
「Year 950, day 195, Elfen territory, Bee Forest, 7 pm.」
...
'It's been over a month... I really want to eat that again... He could at least give me a reward for trying! I can't stand it any longer.' - thought Kalui.
…
'It's been over a month... I think I will give him some fruit.' – thought Roldi.
With the pleasant weather in the early evening, the two went to sleep after their bath, but only Roldi fell asleep.
Even at night, the forest was still clear, for the moon was shining brightly that evening.
'He will be surprised when he wakes up and sees me eating...'
The child entered the forest, heading in the right direction, but he could not remember how long he had walked for the last time, so after a while he thought he was lost. Still the child did not seem frightened, quite the contrary, he seemed to be enjoying being alone in the scary forest at night.
"Aaaah!" - Kalui shouted. - "I've been walking for hours and nothing!"
A few minutes after the shout, he finally arrived in the fruit area.
With great ease, he climbed the same tree as last time and picked the fruit without having to jump, just by stretching out one arm while hanging on with the other.
Sitting on one of the branches, he saw a strange movement in the shadows at the very moment he took a bite of the fruit. For some reason Kalui remembered one of the many things Roldi had told him on his trip:
- "Kalui, animals always stay where they are favorable, so a forest predator will definitely get you in the forest."
Startled, he throws his fruit in the direction of the strange movement and before the fruit can touch the ground, a large black panther comes out of the shadows, running at top speed. Its cold, bloodthirsty eyes were completely fixed on Kalui.
Realizing imminent death, the child went into despair, jumped out of the tree and ran with all his might while crying and desperately screaming for help. The panther did not catch up with him as fast as it should have because it slowed down soon after starting to run after its prey. She was thin and with a fresh wound on one of her hind legs.
'I don't believe it, I don't believe it, I'm going to die and I haven't even eaten the fruit yet!'
The forest was ending and the big drop was his dead end. A few seconds have passed since the fruit fell to the ground. Kalui was with his eyes closed, just crying and running. The panther chased even slower, for he knew of the abyss ahead
By the goodness of fate, he opened his eyes to see where the panther was, but was faced with the great precipice. The animal silently surrounds him. Kalui was surrounded by death, one step away from an abyss and one leap away from a panther.
Before he lost hope, in the silence of the forest, there came the unmistakable and frightening sound of Roldi running. Kalui smiled broadly, his eyes red from crying and shouting.
"Roldi! I am here!" - He said waving his arms in the air.
Kalui's movement stirred the beast, causing it to attack. However, before it could reach the child, the more than two meters tall man emerged from the forest with his red skin and bulging veins, at high speed, throwing a punch that pierced the panther's abdomen, who died without even seeing it coming. However, the impact of the strong footsteps makes the fragile part of the ground begin to break.
Still with the panther through his right arm, Roldi realized that the ground was cracking. Desperate, he shouted:
"Run for it, kid!"
Looking down, the child understood what was about to happen. His joy at seeing Roldi turned to panic. At his first step out of danger, the ground broke and the boy fell on his back.
The fall was long and Kalui did not scream, or even cry; his fear paralyzed him. As he fell, his body spun, and as he saw the ground getting closer and closer, something happened. A strong gust of wind emanated from the child, causing him to stop in midair. The big trees all around were swaying as if there was a hurricane. The boy did not understand what was happening, but seeing that he stopped falling and that the ground was close by, the feeling of danger diminished and the wind disappeared. Still the fall was high, and with the impact on the ground, he fainted.
Desperate, not knowing what happened; Roldi strengthened his body to the maximum and jumped out of the abyss. As he fell, a great cloud of dust rose up and all the birds fled the place with the thunderous sound.
"Kid! Kid!" - He checked his breathing and took him in his lap. – "It's going to be all right, kid. It's going to be all right."
'I think he fainted from fright. He does not seem to be hurt. The most important thing now is that I am sure I saw him stop in the air, but even for an experienced air creator, it would be difficult to stop in the air so instantly falling at that speed... He is probably a powerful creator.'