"I beseech thee that was formed from nature upon which I stand, earth strike." I said as a rock shot out of nowhere.
"You really are weak. I believe I sensed much power coming from you earlier." Tora said.
"Damn, I'm beat." I said, sitting on the floor and picking up the book once again.
"Magic is kinda hard." I said, reaching out for some rice balls.
"Huh?!! Where are they?" I asked, looking at Inu, who kept rubbing his stomach.
"I wonder where they are. Tee-hee π" He said as I tried controlling my anger.
"TORA!!!" I shouted, running towards him.
"W-w-wait." He said, trying to protect himself.
"You bastard." I said, grabbing the wooden flask where I put some tea in.
"Heh? It's... it's gone." I said.
"O-o-oh."
*Prepare to die, Tora.* I thought, grabbing him.
"You're scaring me Natsuo, you have this deadly look in your eyes." He said.
"Oh yeah, that's cause I'm gonna kill you, roast you, and eat you."
"W-wait, we've been here since morning it was only natural that I got hungry."
"I suffered to find the ingredients to prepare these since no one here knows it and you bastard, you fat fool!!" I shouted.
"Come on, man, I'm not that fat."
"That's what you're worried about!!"
After making some noise, I used the flask to draw some water from the stream and began drinking it.
"I'll try learning this fire magic. It looks complicated, though." I said.
"Don't run out of MP." He said lying down lazily.
"You talk like this is a game." I said, looking at the book while trying to cast the spell.
"My art unknown, your source..."
"Ugh, I feel weak." I said, falling on the floor.
"What'd I tell you?" He asked, smiling.
"I don't understand what's going on, but imma sleep." I said before dozing off.
When I opened my eyes, I saw myself on my bed.
"Ah... that gave me a fright." Tora said, as if waking up immediately.
"How'd I get back home?" I asked.
"You were out for like hours. It was already late in the night, so I possessed you."
"You what?!"
"Natsuo?"
"Oh, nothing, mom." I said.
"Is that even possible?"
"Yeah, it is for me." Tora said, feeling proud.
"Oh, thanks then." I said, yawning.
"But... you're quite unique, too. Your mana grew much more than before. Didn't her spell work?" Tora asked.
"Hmm?"
"Nothing."
"Yeah."
The days went on that way, going for magic training, doing my body improvement, and all.
Tora eating my food, learning new tricks, and fainting.
"I can't believe I trusted you when you said my mana was growing, I can't even perform magic at a higher level." I said, sitting on the floor.
"Huh? I think you're just blind." He said, looking away.
"Ahh... I wish I could test these out on a beast, I'll be sure if I have an affinity for magic or not." I said.
"Huh? Why are you looking at me? I hope you're not cooking up wicked plans." He said, standing on his guard.
"Haha... ha." I laughed, looking away.
"Hey, someone's coming." He said before covering up his presence.
"Hey." I heard a man say as I stood up immediately.
"Who are you? And what do you want?" I asked as he smiled.
"Don't be scared, son. I'm just looking for a place to stay for a few days." He said, smiling.
"I don't know, but I feel he has bad intentions." Tora said, but it seemed like I was the only one that could hear him.
*Tora is right, he's aura is different from mom's own, and I feel like I've heard his voice before.* I thought.
"Since you're looking for where to stay, why did you come here?" I asked.
"Oh, I just saw this cave and thought that it might be good enough." He said, still smiling.
He's like these guys that love keeping their eyes shut while smiling weirdly.
"They're many other caves here. Why do you want to stay here?" I asked.
"Hey, come on. I mean no harm, really."
"He's trying to escape the question, don't try anything, Natsuo, I can see that he's not a normal traveller." Tora said as I nodded.
"Sorry, sir, but this spot has been taken." I said.
"Okay then, I'll see you next time." He said, smiling before walking out.
"I wonder what he wanted." I said as Tora made himself visible.
"Hmm..." He said before I picked up the book.
A week had passed since my encounter with the guy named Gitsu. He had been visiting the cave throughout those seven days, telling me a story about his travels and all.
*Seriously, what the hell's this guy's deal?* I thought, tearing the flesh of an animal my mom roasted.
"Gitsu." I called as he flinched before letting out a smile.
He always does that when I call him. It's already part of him, I guess.
"What's wrong, Little Natsuo?" He asked, smiling at me.
"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere?" I asked.
"Don't worry about that, I'll be leaving soon." He said, smiling.
"Hey, hey, that smile has a creepy feeling behind it." Tora said.
"Yes."
A few days later, just as I was about to leave the house, Grandma called me. I stood beside her as she placed her hand on me.
*What's going on now? I hope I won't be fainting again.* I thought as I felt a sudden warmth in me.
"Be a good boy." She said, smiling at me before letting me go.
*What's this? I feel so... comfortable.* I thought, smiling while walking out.
I got to the cave and started my physical training while Tora just laid there sleeping.
By afternoon, Tora was already awake, looking around for food.
"Did you forget today's lunch?" He asked as I turned to him immediately.
"Aw... don't tell me I did." I said.
"Um... you did." He said as I got up.
"I'll go get it. Stay for some time." I said while running off.
As I walked towards the hut, I felt a strong pain. I'm my head. My vision became blurry and went back to normal. It continued like that for a while until blood started coming out of my eyes.
*Wh-what's this pain?* I thought, holding my head.
"My eyes!!" I shouted while falling on my knees.
Just then, though my vision was not like it usually was because of the blood that covered my eyes, I saw a hut burning.
*Isn't that...* I thought before standing up, completely ignoring the pain as I ran off.
"The hut." I said, running as fast as I could.
Before long, I arrived at the hut and saw the people burning it.
*That is..."
"Gitsu..." I called as he turned towards me, his eyes open this time around, his face covered in blood and what looked like a young lady on his shoulder, blood dripping from wherever it was dripping from.
"M-mom." I called.
"Hey, I thought I sent some of you guys to go kill this kid?" He asked.
"Geek... sorry Lord Gitsu, five people went for him, maybe he followed a different route." One of them said.
*Tora!!*
"It doesn't matter. Kill him now." He said as they looked at me.
"Run!! Run!! Natsuo, run away!!" The old woman shouted as someone stepped on her.
"Shut it, old lady."
"G-grandma..." I called still shocked and confused.
"Rain down fire!!" I heard her say as I saw balls, no the fire came down as rain drops but something protected me.
"Old bitch!" One of them shouted before beheading her.
It was only then that the drops of fire stopped.
I saw her head roll on the floor as I covered my mouth.
I stood up and then began running while shouting at the top of my voice.
I ran through the forest, keeping my voice down.
*What will happen to Tora? I hope he's safe.* I thought hiding beside a large tree.
They got scattered, and as one of them walked towards me, I stepped on the tree beside me two times and kicked him.
*Wh-what's this?* I thought, seeing his head roll down.
*That wasn't something that would kill him, I just wanted to...*
"He killed one of us!! Get him!!"
I continued running while vomiting. The sight was too new for me. I ran up tye mountain and luckily avoided some wild beasts there. Just when I thought I might be saved, I saw a dead end.
It was not really a dead end, but I knew that if I jumped, I would be dead. The bad guys walked towards me while panting.
"Seriously, you made us run out of energy, but you die here." One of them said walking towards me.
"N-no!! Fire ball, water ball form of earth!!!" I kept shouting as these things kept coming from nature knows where.
I didn't even have time to think of the reason why they came without incantations.
"Agh!! He's a magic user, too." One of them said before getting burned.
"So what, he'll run out of mana soon." One of them said.
And what he said was true, I was already getting tired. It wasn't cause of the mana, but I already saw many disgusting scenes that day, so I was getting weak.
*Would I die again?* I thought falling on the ground.
"Natsuo!!!!!!!!" I heard a voice call as my eyes shut.