5 days later
Ben eats the last white ration and groans with joy " Finally I am free from this scourge. Never again this disgusting food pulp. Today I should go north again and collect some of the herbs. I have used up quite a bit of my supply for the wolf pup. I hope the little one is well."
Arriving at the spot, Ben kneels down and is about to start when he hears the rustling of leaves behind him. He turns around and a chill runs down his spine. A moon wolf comes out of the bushes and it is not the little cub he saved. Overcome with fear, Ben backs away step by step but never takes his eyes off the wolf.
After a while, his analysis skill tells him that it is a moon wolf, but he knew that even without skill. The mark on its forehead is clearly visible. The wolf comes closer and starts to growl. Ben raises his hands appeasingly and talks at the wolf " Hey buddy. I helped the wolf kid. It was me with the bandage. How about you let me go and we go our separate ways?" but that only seems to make the wolf angrier.
Seeing no other solution, Ben summons Chain Lightning and aims it at the wolf. Lightning leaps out of the card directly towards the wolf, but the later cleverly dodges it. What the wolf didn't expect is that the lightning jumping over to him. The wolf is briefly confused but seems less impressed by the attack, but Ben takes advantage of this moment and takes his legs in his hands and runs away.
The adrenalin in his body is pumping. He runs as fast as he can. Again and again he hears the wolf behind him or from the side and Ben instinctively runs in the opposite direction of the sound. This spiel goes on and on until Ben drops to his knees in front of a huge tree. Exhausted from the effort, he gives up. His head tells him to run but his body does not obey.
The wolf comes closer and closer and opens its mouth. A row of sharp teeth look out at Ben. He closes his eyes, unwilling to look the end in the face, or rather in the jaws. But the end does not come. Instead he hears a soft voice, "Enough Melwin. Look at what you have done. The poor thing is completely exhausted and about to faint. I asked you to bring him to me but not like this. You could have politely asked him to follow you." Ben doesn't understand where this voice is coming from and who the fuck is Melwin.
His eyes slowly go dark as a warm energy flows through his body. His exhaustion subsides as his body absorbs more energy. With renewed strength, Ben looks around but sees no one but the wolf. Questioning, he looks around as the voice comes again, straight out of the tree "I hope you're feeling better?" Ben winks `did the tree just talk to me? Okay either I've gone mad or I'm dead.`
Hesitantly he replies " Um...thank you dear tree for your help?" A soft giggle can be heard " Oh sorry. It is so seldom that I get visitors. I'd better get out of my home." Ben is amazed as a figure emerges from the tree.
A beautiful female form. Her long curly green hair the same colour as fresh needles on a fir tree. Her flawless brown skin reminds Ben of the bark of a tree. She looks at Ben with her hazel brown eyes. A warm, inviting smile accompanied by her beautiful face make this being a true beauty. Her dress of green leaves caresses her figure. Touched by this beauty, Ben's face turns a little red as he looks at her body more closely than it is appropriate.
"My name is Anabella. I am the guardian of this forest and a dryad." Ben still a little taken off guard by Anabella beauty stutters " H-Hello i am B-Ben." "Nice to meet you Ben and the moon wolf behind you is Melwin. I instructed him to bring you to me but apparently I wasn't clear enough in my instructions."
After the last word she clicks her tongue while looking at the wolf with an angry expression. The wolf lowers its head and ears. A soft whimper can be heard. It seems the dryad has reprimanded the wolf for his not so friendly ways. "I'm sorry Ben." A dark voice is heard. Ben looks at the wolf in amazement.
`Animals can talk? Okay I'm definitely dead or in another one of those fucking illusions. Fuck I'd rather be dead than in an illusion. I still can't get my head around the fact that my life was a lie` as the thought crosses his mind Ben winces. Anabella seems to sense what Ben is thinking and says
"No not all animals can talk. Moon wolves actually belong to the more intellectual races. I should probably explain this further. There are three groups into which living beings can be divided. The most important factor is intelligence.
First we have normal animals and monsters. They don't have higher intelligence but they have other talents that give them advantages. Some can cast magic without cards or are physically strong. They are also very quickly mature and can multiply quickly. Here we have for example goblins or kobolds.
Then come animals and monsters with higher intelligence. Some are able to speak like Melwin. They can also cast magic or have stronger physical bodies but to counteract this advantage they have less offspring and also sexual maturity comes much later.
The last group are the enlightened beings. These have completely lost their connection to magic and have to resort to cards. They live longer than the other two groups, but they also need longer to produce offspring. The big advantage, however, is intelligence."
Ben listens to the explanation curiously and keeps nodding "But then why haven't the enlightened ones conquered the world yet? The advantages are much stronger than the disadvantages?" asks Ben " There are several factors but the most important one is that the Intelligent species get a malus on the experience points. Normal animals can gain experience points much easier and together with the fast reproduction, this can quickly become dangerous for a village or town.
If the population gets out of control and the ecosystem is no longer sufficient for all inhabitants, it can lead to a monster stampede. Hundreds or thousands of monsters attack a village. Do you think a village of a thousand people has anything to counter that?" Ben, slightly disturbed by the thought, shakes his head.
The two continue talking for some time when he hears an interesting piece of information. The first two groups can develop into higher life forms under the right conditions. This sounds familiar to Ben.
It reminds him of himself. " It reminds me with the card users which are called Limit Breakers, what some individuals have." The dryad nods and replies " and you are right about that. It is the same principle. Except that you are not evolving yourself into a higher form, but instead your heart cards. These represent yourself. I could explain a bit more but now we come to the point why I asked you here."
The cheerful mood disappeared as the dryad turned serious. "You're strange Ben. I mean it as I say. When you suddenly appeared in my forest I noticed you immediately. You are an anomaly. On the one hand, there's something repulsive about you. Something unnatural and I feel the need to erase that unnatural.
Whatever it is, it's a perversion of the laws of nature and as a being who represents nature, I should eradicate you." When Ben hears this, he can't breathe. He feels hot and cold at the same time. There is nothing of the beautiful dryad. Not her soft eyes and not her gentle smile. Both have given way to a hard face.