As Silver stood outside the great wall of Sparta and gazed at the forest in the distance, his heart could not help but pound in a mix of excitement and anticipation. He inhaled and then exhaled softly, and with a resolute expression, he started jogging towards the forest.
The forest, otherwise known as The Spartan Forest to foreigners, had a name that was barely known… Thería.
Very few knew about this name of the Spartan forest, and this was not only true to foreigners, it was also true to Spartans. Most Spartans usually referred to Thería or the Spartan forest, as the forest. If one should ask ten Spartans where Thería was located, nine out of ten Spartans would know of a place called Thería.
Although very few Spartans and foreigners knew that the Spartan forest had a name, most, if not all of the story tellers and bards of Nirvania that had visited Sparta, knew that the Spartan forest was called Thería.
Whenever story tellers had a story regarding Sparta, most would also include stories and myths regarding the forest, and how it got the name… Thería.
According to the story tellers, Thería was actually the name of the guardian spirit and beast of the forest. Thería was both a very powerful spirit and beast that was protecting the forest from evil beings. They also said Thería is so strong she could destroy half of the northern continent with a single roar and destroy the other half with a single stomp.
Bards would even sing songs of Thería been a spiritual beast that could attain a humanoid form. They would even sing about the otherworldly beauty of Thería in her humanoid form.
When Silver heard all of these from his mother some days ago, he was absolutely baffled and also interested in the history and story behind the name, Thería.
His mother told him that the words of story tellers and bards were mostly incorrect, and though she did not know the true story regarding the forest, she knew some things and told him that the words of the story tellers were mostly incorrect.
Silver was curious when he heard everything about the forest from his mother, and when he asked her what she knew about Thería, his mother just told him to not worry about it until he got stronger and older.
Although Silver was dissapointed when he heard this, he knew the secrets and unknowns of the world would become known to him as long as he gets stronger and survives.
The minutes went by, and approximately thirty minutes later, Silver stood at the edge of the forest, Thería.
As he stood, he could feel his body trembling slightly with a mix of excitement and fear as he looked at the forest, Theria, which loomed before him like a vast, living entity. This was not the first time he was entering the forest, but this time around, it would be more dangerous and… exciting.
Sigh
He released a soft sigh, and then he entered.
According to what Silver knew, Theria was a forest that was divided into four parts: The Outskirts, The Greenbelt, The Heartwood, and The Shadowland
The Outskirts of the forest was where Silver usually went to practice. It was also a place that was nearly devoid of dangerous beasts due to some Spartans soldiers who were regularly assigned to clear The Outskirts of any dangerous beasts.
However, one could encounter dangerous beasts in The Outskirts if they were unlucky.
To understand why the forest, Theria, was divided into four parts, one must first understand the various classifications and stages of beasts.
The weakest types of beasts were called Animals.
Animals were beasts that had no shred of mystic energy in them. Although Animals were weak to people who had started cultivating, they could still harm and kill normal humans, and even weak cultivators.
For instance, a lion, bear, or a pack of wolves that had no shred of mystic energy in them could kil Silver at his current level if he was not careful. However, one would rarely find a lion, bear, or a pack of wolves without an iota of mystic energy in them.
Although, Silver was stronger, faster, and more flexible than most humans his age and even above his age, one must not forget that Silver was still a 'normal Spartan. He did not have a shred of mystic energy in him, and Animals could kill him if he was not careful.
Another thing to note was that most Animals, in fact 98% of most Animals could not absorb mystic energy to become stronger. Most animals were born an Animal, and would die an Animal.
The next classification of beasts was called Feral Beasts.
Feral Beasts are beasts that have been able to absorb mystic energy, and these beasts are stronger and faster than Animals. A Feral Beast was usually at least five times stronger than an Animal, and one should not forget that beasts were usually much stronger than humas.
So, if a Feral Beast was at least five times stronger than an Animal, one could imagine how large the difference between a Feral Beast's strength and a normal human's strength is. Not all cultivators at the same level of a Feral Beast could kill a Feral Beast in a one on one fight.
After Feral Beasts, The next classification of beasts was called Savage Beasts.
Not only were Savage Beasts much stronger and faster than Feral Beasts, they were also larger, and some developed… elemental abilities.
There were Savage Beasts that had not developed their elemental abilities, and if an average cultivator encountered one, they still had a chance of surviving and maybe even killing the beast.
But if an average cultivator encountered a Savage Beast with elemental abilities, then one must pray to fate and luck.
And Silver, a Spartan without a shred of mystic energy in him, declared that he was going to kill and bring back a Savage Beast from his rite of passage.
When one knew about the classification of beasts and the differences between each classification, one would eventually realize why everybody who knew about Silver's declaration did not believe he would bring back a Savage Beast.
Although he was a Spartan with the Morningstar bloodline in him, he was a normal Spartan with average bloodline talents, an average Spartan physique, and average comprehension talents. There was no way anybody believed that somebody like him would be able to bring back the corpse of a Savage Beast.