In an unknown space.
A singular black mask was floating in the white space, its presence a stark contrast to the pristine environment. An ominous energy was emanating from it, visibly sinking into the white space.
Slowly over time, the amount of ominous energy emitted decreased and decayed until the mask became just a harmless floating object.
But the mask was anything but ordinary.
The mask just floated in the white space, returning to its previously dormant form, again gathering energy if its usage was ever required again.
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Icarth slowly opened his eyes.
'Where am I?' Icarth wondered as he gazed at the open blue sky. His body and mind felt extremely fatigued.
'What was I doing?' Icarth tried to jog his hazy memory. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't formulate a single memory of what he was doing. The last thing he remembered was fainting after being brutally beaten. The rest of his memory was blank.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember a single thing.
Sitting upright, Icarth found himself surrounded by trees.
'I'm still in the forest?' Icarth thought with hesitation.
'Wait a minute...my wounds...have healed?!' Icarth concluded in shock after observing his body.
Finding himself shirtless, Icarth observed his body.
His toned body was surprisingly almost scarless. All the scars that he had accumulated throughout his long time training and fighting had mysteriously vanished. Even his huge scar that ran from his shoulder to his hip had almost disappeared, leaving only a line of new skin that was of a lighter color than the rest of his body.
Except for the tiredness that prevailed through his body, Icarth felt ok for the most part.
Moving his legs, Icarth found that he could move them just fine.
Satisfied with assessing his body, Icarth moved to observe his surroundings. Extending his senses, Icarth scanned the area around him with vigilance.
Finding that not a single animal was near him, Icarth raised his guard even more. A premonition hit Icarth and he finally activated his partial transformation.
Unlike his previous times, a greater amount of universal energy rushed into Icarth. Seeming rushing to comply with his orders, the universal energy quickly enhanced his body.
Icarth's hair grew longer than before, taking on a wavy texture. His pale red eyes, took a sharp glint, taking in a great amount of information at a glance.
New claws grew in on his hands and feet, sharper than ever and gleaming in the sunlight.
Jumping to his feet, Icarth scanned the area around him once more.
Even with his enhanced senses and vision he still couldn't find anything.
'...Nothing....that can't be...' Icarth thought and his heart rate quickened. This was the great Boan forest. It couldn't be this deserted under any circumstances.
Suddenly a thought struck him. Calming down, Icarth's pale red eyes glowed as he unconsciously channeled universal energy to them. Suddenly his vision shifted
and the world bleached itself. Finding everything around him turn gray, Icarth knew what to do instinctively. Swiveling around, Icarth finally found what he was looking for.
Red. A substantial red aura that was emanating from a certain tree. Even though it was contained, just the leakage made Icarth develop a cold sweat.
Looking at the tree, Icarth wondered what to do. It was an entity that he couldn't fight currently.
'Should I fight? ...no... I need to-' Icarth's thoughts were interrupted as the red aura vanished completely leaving his vision gray.
Backing off, Icarth warily gazed at the tree, ready to run for his life at a moment's notice. He wouldn't let himself get caught like last time. Not so easily at least.
Now one might wonder why Icarth didn't immediately run. Well, there were two reasons.
One, Icarth felt that the entity was strong. Almost on the level of the cloaked figure. If it wanted to kill him, it could've just done so.
Two, Icarth had an inkling that it was this entity that had saved him from death's door.
Icarth shifted his vision back to normal and watched as the entity revealed itself.
The tree cracked and rippled.
Yes, rippled. The solid tree rippled like the disturbed surface of a lake.
A singular wooden foot stepped out of the tree. Soon the rest of the body followed it out of the tree.
A figure stood in the sunlight. Completely made out of wood, its body was covered in bark, giving it an aged and wizened look. Branches extended out at several points with leaves and flowers flourishing on them. The body took the shape of a humanoid figure. Two thick branches took the shape of arms. At the end of the branches, multiple twigs served as fingers, around 15 on each arm.
On its face, a single blue pearl was adorned in a cavity on its 'head' structure. It was embedded in the cavity, its peerless surface bounded by unfathomable wisdom and knowledge.
"Congratulations child. You survived." The tree-shaped figure spoke, a deep gravely voice emitting from it.
'No mouth..' Icarth noted. His wariness reached a new level. For some reason, Icarth was inherently wary of anything that spoke telepathically.
A deep silence prevailed after the tree-shaped figure's statement. A standoff was currently occurring between Icarth and the tree.
"Who are you?" Icarth finally asked, no longer able to hold the silence.
"I think that you already know the answer to that." The tree-shaped figure answered.
"...." Icarth stayed silent. The only entity willing to help Icarth after the power that the masked figure had shown could only be one being.
"The forest guardian," Icarth uttered, his eyes flashing with resentment.
"Indeed." The forest guardian confirmed without any change in expression. Although it could be argued that there wasn't any scope for a change in expression either.
"Why did you save me?" Icarth asked after another pause. It was the only thing on his mind so far. Icarth was sure he would have died if he had been left alone.
The forest guardian cocked its head. The leaves and flowers growing on its body rustled and followed along with its movement.
"Why did you refuse that man's offer?" The forest guardian suddenly posed a question of its own.
Icarth felt the gaze of the forest guardian on him. Holding the gaze of the pearl eye, Icarth answered evenly, "I didn't like his attitude."
Unblinking, the forest guardian paused.
Didn't like his attitude?
'What a childish answer.' The forest guardian concluded.
"Although the real reason is that he doesn't have any sense of reason," Icarth added after sensing the bad reaction of the forest guardian.
Calming down, the forest guardian re-assed its view of Icarth.
'Good, that I was right.' The forest guardian breathed a sigh of relief and made up its mind.
"Child, how would you like to be my student?" The forest guardian proposed stunning Icarth completely.