Going back hours ago when Alexander had left work.
Joseph acted as if he was asleep as Alexander nodded, who left after a few seconds.
Seeing through a hole in the door that Alexander was no longer in sight, Joseph headed towards Blackie with a smile on his face.
"Guess what day it is, Blackie!" Joseph excitedly asked Blackie, who let out a sleepy little bark.
"Exactly my friend, today is Master Alexander's birthday and we should celebrate it!" Joseph declared loudly with excitement.
"When we talked a few days ago he had told me about it and he thought that he would not give it importance, but he was completely wrong, today we must celebrate!"
Joseph picked up Alexander's usual wooden basket on his back and placed Blackie inside it. After that, he had a light breakfast of some fruit before heading into the forest, heading towards where the stream was.
Joseph traveled for two hours and stopped in front of a large tree on which fruits similar to pine cones were hanging.
"A while ago when Master Alexander went to work I came across this fruit while exploring the forest, after trying it I loved it, and seeing that Master Alexander has a sense of taste as good as mine, he would love it too."
With the idea that his teacher Alexander would love his gift and teach him more things, Joseph climbed the tree with enthusiasm. After many attempts, he managed to take several fruits in his basket.
Blackie was covered in all the fruits, but he didn't seem to care, he continued sleeping peacefully.
Once that was done, Joseph returned to the shelter and started working.
It took him two full hours to clean every trace of dust from the shelter with a handkerchief that he wiped with water from one of the buckets. "I hope the teacher doesn't get angry after using a bucket of water."
When he finished cleaning, Joseph cleaned each fruit as he had previously seen Alexander do it with the apples.
With the fruits cleaned, Joseph took a sharp stone and began to cut them. He knew from before that there was a sweet liquid inside, so he took the opportunity to drink it to cool down a little and the rest, he kept in a clean bottle that he had found.
Joseph used all his skill to create a fruit feast for his teacher. All the effort of the day had taken him until the afternoon, when Alexander would arrive from work.
"I hope you like it." Joseph looked at the plates full of fruit on the floor. He sat at the entrance to the shelter with Blackie on top of his legs.
Looking in the direction of the forest, he waited patiently for his master to arrive. "Blackie, do you think Master will help me form my mana channels after this celebration?"
Joseph asked as he looked at Blackie with hopeful eyes.
Blackie simply let out a meaningless bark under that bright gaze.
Time passed and several ideas of how to greet his teacher appeared in his mind, but he couldn't decide which one. "I think it said happy birthday, right?"
At that moment, a disturbance in the forest was heard from the distance that brought him back to reality.
Joseph was about to leave excitedly when he heard a multitude of voices.
"It's here, right?"
"Yes, yes, I'm sure it's here, I had seen him before enter the forest and leave in this direction…"
Joseph immediately stopped his steps as he looked at Blackie, who also looked back at him.
"Hide." Joseph ordered Blackie as he grabbed a pointed branch and climbed out through a window of the shelter and hid in the forest. Blackie followed his orders and hid in an empty box while his body trembled slightly.
At the front of the shelter, a group of Porskas and a human appeared through the vegetation.
"It's true. There's a shelter, and look inside, there's tons of food!" The leader of the group who was an adult Porska smiled as he spoke to his companions.
The human subordinate felt happy after seeing his boss smile, thinking that he would have a reward at the end of the day.
While Porska's group was planning to distribute the food among themselves without regard to the human, they heard a sound from the bushes next to them.
The five looked in that direction, and the moment they turned, from behind them a small human figure appeared with a jump in the direction of the leader of the group.
Joseph clung to the Porska leader's back before attacking the lizard's right eye with the sharp branch in his hands.
"Aaaargh! Motherfucker!" The Porska roared angrily as he grabbed Joseph's back and threw him into the distance.
Joseph rolled a few feet on the ground before getting up. He positioned himself as the teacher he had been taught. His heart was beating fast due to the intensity of his emotions.
His hand trembled slightly in fear, but he refused to run away and abandon Blackie to his fate. The injured group leader glared at him before jumping on him.
Joseph saw the lizard's scaly hand approach his face and ducked to avoid it. The hand passed over him.
"Good!" Joseph felt happy after dodging that attack. He wanted to position himself again, but he was too slow. He had never fought a Porska before.
"So you are the owner of this shelter?! You will pay dearly for attacking me!" Leader Porska grabbed him by the neck as he lifted him into the air.
Joseph tried to escape from his grasp, but it was impossible. At that moment, the leader attacked his abdomen, causing him to vomit saliva. Then he continued attacking different parts of his body with force to immobilize him.
Tears of pain came from Joseph's eyes. After what seemed like hours of beating, he was hopefully able to stay conscious.
At that moment, small barks were heard from inside the shelter as Blackie revealed himself. He growled at the Porska who had Joseph trapped to let him go.
"A dog?" The human subordinate looked with his mouth salivating at Blackie as he approached him to catch him. Frightened, Blackie moved from side to side to escape his grasp.
The Porska ignored the animal as he raised his fist in the air for one last blow. Joseph saw over the lizard's shoulder a figure emerge from the forest.
"M-Master Alexander?" he murmured those few words.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Alexander shouted those words out loud, attracting the attention of everyone present.