Slaughter of the Multicolor Leaf Forest.Thus was called the episode that involved the death of a dozen merchants along with about twenty armed bandits.
This event had sparked a great uproar in Leaf City as it was a city far from war zones and accidents with such a large number of people involved rarely happened.
When the mercenaries returned to the city with wagons full of corpses in such terrifying conditions and told what had happened to the city authorities, soon the rumor that this ma.s.sacre was the work of some powerful spiritual beast spread among the common people.
The thought that it was some dangerous spiritual beast aroused the terror of the citizens, who had grown up as children with stories about the dangerousness of such creatures.
However, at the same time the rumor that it was the work of some powerful farmer who pa.s.sed casually also circulated. Although this rumor was much more appreciated by people, those in power were more afraid of it than the idea of having to deal with some dangerous spiritual beast.
So they waited for several days, organizing teams to limit the outer perimeter of the forest around the area of the event and blocking that stretch of road.
After several days of useless waiting and with the anxiety of the people who spurred on the beast to be taken out, the authorities gave the task to the guards dedicated to the management of the city to send a team to explore inside the forest.
To help them in the feat, rewards were also set up for mercenaries and volunteers of all kinds who were not afraid to enter that place.
So, after several meetings and arrangements, the exploration team was sent with the task of finding the tracks of the beast and killing it. But in the end, their exploration was unsuccessful.
They scoured the outskirts of the forest without finding anything that might resemble the culprit who had probably escaped into the heart of the forest.
However, penetrating so deeply involved a very great risk for the soldiers and mercenaries who made up the team, and, although it was not an impossible undertaking, the price to be paid would have been high. Not even the proposed money could convince them to commit such madness. So they could do nothing but return back.
The authorities at that point, to calm the voices, decided to opt in saying that it was the work of a strong cultivator, hoping that this expert was not true and would not appear suddenly with strange intentions.
Fortunately, as time went on, this ruckus soon calmed down gradually and was soon forgotten by the people who resumed their activities.
***
Three years after the Ma.s.sacre of the Multicolor Leaf Forest
On a sunny spring day, a child was chasing some b.u.t.terflies through the vegetation.
Although at first glance this was a rather common image, the place where he was, was far from being ordinary as a place to play. It was the heart of the Multicolor Leaf Forest where spirit beasts of various kinds could be found, many of which were dangerous to humans. But, even though there was an inviting morsel running around, none of the spiritual beasts in the surroundings had the courage to make a move towards that strange little animal that ran on two feet.
In fact, in the heart of the forest dwelt the most dangerous creature they had ever seen. And, after many deaths, they realized that it was better not to approach that area or try to attack that strange little animal that was protected by that monstrous creature that had spread death to anyone who tried to attack the little man or tried to get too close to that area. Only insects or small beasts could approach even if they would always remain under observation.
The child, despite being only three years of age, outwardly looked like a 5-6 year old. He had dark brown skin with black hair and dark brown eyes, tending to black. He was dressed entirely in silvery silk dresses that sparkled in the sunlight.
Although he was in this dangerous forest for ordinary people, he didn"t seem to be very worried while he was chasing b.u.t.terflies. In fact, he was so engrossed in his game that he was about to get out of the perimeter he had been designated by his mother.
At that moment he heard a dry sound and suddenly he heard a voice inside his head. To human this sound would have seemed only a series of incomprehensible noises produced by some beast, but for the child it was as clear as the language spoken by people.
"Don"t go any further, come back. I forbade you to go beyond the borders I showed you. You have to pay attention to your surroundings even when you play, do you understand?" Said the strange voice in his head with a reproaching voice.
The child surprised by the voice immediately stopped worried and with a sad tone produced a series of sounds that meant. "Yes, you are right mother. Excuse me, I"ll be right back." With this, the child rushed to his home where his mother lived.
This child was the same newborn rescued during the accident three years ago while his mother was obviously the spirit beast spider who had saved him and for the past three years they lived in the middle of the forest.
The house in question was a huge dome-shaped web, 10 meters in radius and 5 meters high, that had been firmly tied to the ground. At the center of this web there was a large recess on the ground where he could pa.s.s inside, which would then be closed during the hours of sleep.
When the kid crawled through that slit, his mother immediately came into his sight and looked at him intently before saying.
"Don"t be afraid, I"m not angry. I just want you to pay attention. Anyway, it"s ready to eat, come."
Hearing this, the child smiled happily and ran to hug his mother. Although the sight of a large spider like this would normally have frightened people, for the child it was the most comforting and enjoyable sight in the world.
With a smile on his face, he prepared to eat the food prepared by his mother which consisted of a fish along with some insects cooked on a small fire that had been lit on one side.
Although normally the fire would have destroyed the web, this was obviously not an ordinary web. Therefore there was no fear that it would catch fire. There was also a large hole at the top that served to disperse the smoke, which in turn would then be closed, creating a totally isolated environment.
While mother and son were happily enjoying the meal, suddenly two dry noises could be heard as if something was breaking.
Upon hearing this, the mother jumped and turned quickly looking in the direction of her two eggs sheltered in their silk bags. These were shaking vigorously as they continued to make such noises. Not long after, the silk bags were broken and two small spirit beasts came out from inside them.
One was a small dark purple spider with silver patterns while the other was a small black snake with gold patterns. They were panting as they devoured part of their sh.e.l.l.
Soon, they noticed the presence of the great spider and immediately realized that it was their mother. Then, they curiously looked at the strange creature beside their mother as they finished eating the eggs and the silk bags that had contained them for all these years.
"Finally they came out. Come child, come and meet your brothers." The adult spider motioned for the little human in the den to follow her to meet the two newcomers. The child with a little uncertainty did anyway what he was asked to do and approached.
The mother spider examined her two little ones and discovered that they were both female, then she took water from the roughly made wooden buckets to clean the little spider and the little snake. Once finished, she prepared to introduce her two cubs to the human child.
"Come, this is your big brother. Remember to follow what he tells you and not to fight. Boy come, these are your two little sisters. Come closer, don"t be afraid."
The child fearfully stretched his hand toward those two little beasts. The little spider in turn stretched one of its legs while the little snake stuck its tongue out. These came into contact with the child"s hand creating a slight tickling sensation.
"Well, now that they too are finally with us, I would say that the time has come to give you your names. I thought about it a lot in these years and finally I decided to do it. " The big spider said happily as she pointed to the little spider first. "You will be called Xing, seeing you are luminous as a star," then turning to the little snake, "instead you will be called Ye as the enchanting night that supports the stars." Finally turning his gaze to the little boy to whom, until now she hadn"t given a name, she said. "And you little one, you will be called Hei, like the darkness. Your task will be to protect your little sisters as the darkness does with the night and the stars. Did you understand?"
Hei who had finally received his name, nodded happily and asked curiously. "Mother, and you? Don"t you have a name?"
His mother was surprised by this question and thought back to an old episode of many years ago when he was still a low-grade spiritual beast who had to be careful even to step out of his lair ...
"You saved my life, I owe you. I see you have no name, what do you say if I give you one? Since you are like a kind of treasure found by chance, I will call you Bao Bei. Abbreviated, Little Bei."
Bao Bei, this was the name that had been given to her a long time ago. Recalling this memory, the spider smiled at Hei and answered. "My name is Bao Bei, but you can continue to call me mother like you always did."
Hearing this, Hei nodded with his head as he smiled and then flung himself out to play happily with his two little sisters.
Although they were just born, they were still spiritual beasts. So they had no problem moving immediately after birth and understanding what they were told. However, they soon got tired and together with Hei went to sleep under the watchful and happy gaze of their mother.
***
A month had pa.s.sed since the birth of Xing and Ye, by now they had become strong enough not to tire immediately after starting to play. They had also grown a few inches, becoming the size of a palm.
While Hei, Xing and Ye were having breakfast with insects and apples, Bao Bei turned to them with a serious air as if she had something important to say.
"Listen to me, little ones. By now you have grown enough and the time has come for you to start your training. You have to learn to be more autonomous and learn to hunt to eat. Therefore, from now on, you will have to commit yourself to hunting the prey that I will request from you. Do you understand?" Bao Bei asked with a serious expression as she s.h.i.+fted her eight eyes to her children.
Hunting, a fundamental action for carnivorous spiritual beasts. Although it was an innate instinct within them, it was still true that hunting without a guide, especially in the non-adult phase, involved enormous danger. This is why mothers had the task of teaching children how to hunt, although this principle was not applied to all species.
Bao Bei wanted all three of her children to learn the art of hunting as soon as possible. After all, in a dangerous world like this, you couldn"t know when your end would come, so she wanted to be sure they were independent if something happened to her.
Hei together with his two sisters raised their astonished eyes at those words. Normally it was their mother who was worried about getting food and by now they were used to it. So they found themselves disarmed and suddenly had to deal with hunting.
"To hunt? Mother will not bring us more food?" (Hei)
"No, I don"t want mother to leave us." (Xing)
"Mother, do you really want to leave us?" (Ye)
Bao Bei, amazed by their words and understanding the misunderstanding, hastened to respond. "No, what are you thinking, you fools. I don"t want to leave you, but you have to learn to hunt, do you agree? Would you do it for your mother?"
The three of them nodded happily and were no longer worried about being abandoned. Bao Bei obviously refrained from revealing to them the reason why they had to become more autonomous, not wanting to sadden them or worry them.
When they finished eating, they all came out of the huge spider web to start their first hunting lessons.
"Remember, you must always be vigilant at all times. No matter how weak a creature may seem, you must always act prudently and a.s.sess the situation well. If you decide to attack, then you must do so with the intention of ending their life immediately. Playing with the prey is something I absolutely don"t accept, can you understand?" Bao Bei said, staring severely at Hei, Xing and Ye.
Hei immediately signaled that he had understood, followed by his two sisters. Seeing that they understood, Bao Bei went on to explain.
"Another rule is respect for what you kill and eat. All creatures have their role and killing one of them means getting your hands dirty with their blood. For this, you have to kill only if necessary and never for fun. And when you kill, you don"t have to waste anything on your prey. To survive you have ended their life and the only way to honor them is by making full use of their body."
Having finished saying this, Bao Bei proceeded to ill.u.s.trate the various hunting tactics such as the use of vegetation to hide and ambush, prepare traps and various ways of attack to kill prey.
Xing and Ye at first struggled a bit as it was the first time they used their skills voluntarily. But in the end, they were spiritual beasts and something inside them told them how to move and what to do exactly. So it didn"t take them long to digest all these new concepts. However, this didn"t mean that they had learn how to hunt since they had not yet practiced with a true moving target.
Hei, on the other hand, being human, found it more difficult to learn, since he had no special ability such as throwing webs or injecting poison. Furthermore Bao Bei was a spider, not a human. She had a profound knowledge in the techniques used by spiders and snakes but it was difficult to convert these into something that could be used by a human.
"Mother, I can"t do it. I"m not Xing and Ye who can use poison and have powerful fangs and I can"t even get the webs out. Why am I the only different one?"
Being born in an environment devoid of people, the very concept of being human was unknown to Hei. Furthermore, Bao Bei had never told Hei anything that could be traced back to the human world. A part of her was afraid to tell him the truth about his origins, fearing that the diversity of species would end up causing her to lose her son.
Seeing his disconsolate face, Bao Bei immediately hastened to console him as she ordered Xing and Ye to continue their training. "Hey, listen. You don"t have to be sad. Does it matter if you are different, Xing and Ye are no different? There is nothing wrong with being different, and regardless of what you are I will love you anyway. Agree?"
Hei heard his mother"s sweet words and stopped crying even though he was still visibly red from crying. "But I also want to hunt with Xing and Ye and also with mom. Why can"t I just?"
"Don"t give up. You"ll see that you"ll make it. You worry so much that you are different but if you want, you can also have sharp fangs and inject venom, you know? For example, just let your nails grow by giving them a sharp shape to have claws, while if you bite hard enough your teeth can become a weapon. For the poison and the cobweb there is a way to make you generate them but for you it is still too early. However, you have an advantage that neither me nor your sisters have. You have these hands here and with these you can use particular objects called weapons. With these weapons you can hunt without having to wait for you to grow bigger and I will teach you how to do it."
Hei hearing these things, especially that he would be able to do in the future the things his mother and his sisters did felt flare up with excitement as he said excited and full of desire to start immediately.
"All right, mother, then I"ll wait when I"m older. Meanwhile I will learn to use these weapons. But what exactly are these weapons?"
"Good boy, this is the spirit. As for weapons, there are various types of weapons and each has its own characteristics. Although I"m not a great expert, I have a basic understanding about how to use them. What I want to teach you is the spear." Bao Bei announced.
Weapons, or the death tools used by humans and demons. Although she hated such instruments that had killed countless spiritual beasts, she could not bear to see her son"s future blocked by her whim. So she decided to put her feelings aside for Hei"s sake.