Capítulo 3: Chapter 1: The Awakening

What happened after I was thrown into a glowing pool of liquid and lost consciousness can only come from another person. I shall not speak of WHERE He came from or WHAT He is. For those matters are not mine to tell alone. However, I can tell you WHO He is:

My Friend, Tutor, Savior, and Companion:

Tavon Runecaster.

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The depths of the Forbidden Cave

A person -no, a man- wearing a dark hooded cloak that obscures his features, walks down a dark and gloomy tunnel. The tunnel walls give off a faint glow, the result of countless Sagicki passing through. He has lived in these tunnels for as long as he can remember, and explored every nook and cranny. The place holds no mystery that he has not solved, no secret he has not found. Except for one thing, who he is and where he came from.

He is not alone in these tunnels, the Sagicki also live here. A specie of Spiders. One of which charges out from a hole in the wall and attacks. Alas, with a flash of light a wall of lightning forms between the Man and the Sagicki. Unable to stop in time, the Sagicki crashes into the wall. It's eight legs flail as the lightning dances across it's body. A distinct aroma of burnt Spider wafts from the carapace.

"Hmm? A Sagicki? I better make sure my runes are still working." As he speaks he opens his cloak revealing a belt from which hangs an assortment of rune stones. stone inscribed with runes and strung on strings. Each rune stone glowimg with different colors such as fiery red, forest green, watery blue and soothing white. A hand emerges from the darkness of the cloak and latches onto a rune lifting it up to get a better look.

He frowns. "Tis still powered. So that isn't the issue. GgSo why was I attacked… cou

"Sagicki: They resemble spiders except they are about twice the size of an average human and can only be found inside of mountains. The average lifespan is around Fifty summers. Instead of spinning web they produce liquid magic and use it trap their victims. The bigger the prey, the more violent they get. If anything gets too close to its' nest it attacks and you can usually tell you are near one if you can see a light."

A scream suddenly echoes throughout the cave system. "That sounded like a child! What is a child doing down here?!" The Man casts a [Rune of Seeking] which produces a beam of light that the man proceeds to follow.

Many turns, jumps and crawling later he comes to a stop. The beam of light he has been following has led him to a solid wall. "Weird, there isn't any closed off caverns around here." The man said as he examines the wall. He looks at where the light beam hit the wall and finds a very small hole, no bigger than his thumb. "Oh well. I guess it is time to do some digging." With that said, he pulls out a thin rock plate covered in runes and a giant swirl and holds it up to the wall.

Taking a deep breathe, he pushes his energy into the rune plate activating it. It lights up and behind it a swirling vortex forms swallowing the rock. The man walks forward at first. But he soon begins to walk faster upon realizing that there must be a lot of rock between him and the origin of the child like scream.

Several minutes later he finally breaks into a massive cavern. There was numerous skeletons laying all over the ground, and a huge crater like pit in the cavern center. Suspended above the crater was a human child child around the age of four summers suspended inside a sphere of liquid magic. "Damn the kid is young, and that is definitely not a Sagicki web. That is raw magicka.." The man springs into action and takes off running towards the boy. Only to come to a stop moments later upon seeing the child open his mouth and the sphere of liquid magicka flood into the child.

"Damnit. The child breathed it in, and the probability of the child surging is very low. After all it is Raw Magicka and it can do anything. But, where could all this liquid magical come from?!"

Golden light then shot from the boy in all directions with a thundering boom sending the Man flying into the rock wall. Struggling to get up only for his head to feel like it was going to explode as a vision flooded his consciousness overwhelming his senses until all he could see was the content of the vision.

In the vision he was trying to create a living being. Someone called him Tavon. He failed countless times, succeeding only four times. He compared the successes against each other to see the full extent of what they could do. The first had a greater affinity for nature and was lither than the rest. He called it Elf. The second had a shorter life span but made up for it in its creativity, adaptability, and ability to learn very fast. He called It Human. The third was short and stocky, lived almost as long as the first, resembled in appearance the second, and had an affinity for Earth. He called it a Dwarf. The fourth did not look like the others. It was enormous with a wing span of twice its size. It had a scaled hide, wings, arms and legs, and could use its arms as legs when it was on the ground. This one he called a Dragon.

then the vision ended.

Struggling to shake off the vestiges of the concussion and the confusing vision, the man decided to call himself Tavon as he pulled himself into a sitting position. Ahead of him laying on the ground was the child. Or at least what he assumed was the child. he would never be the same again. The explosion of magicka had transformed the child into something that had features reminiscent of the humans, elves and dragons he saw in the vision. Tavon quickly cast a [Rune of Analysis] on the child.

"He has Mind Speak, extreme hearing, strength, and… What the… his essence is infused with Magicka! Not good, he cannot stay here. These caves are not a place this child should be. Where could he have come from? Ah! Could he have come from THAT Village? But they haven't come near the entrance in..." Tavon rubs his head as he tried to remember how long it had been. "Ah right it has been six thousand twenty two and five hundred summers. Let's go see if they lost a child."

And so he picked the boy up and started walking. Several hours later, he exits the cave and looks around him in awe. "Much has changed since I was here last."

Around him were trees whose trunks reached for the sky yet being strangely thin. Specks of light dances between the trees and a thin fog coated the ground. As he traversed farther he would occasionally see a deer, rabbit and other peaceful critters. A butterfly even landed upon his hand at one point.

However the closer to the village he got the more the panicked the creatures were. They started to run at the sight of him. He even began to smell smoke. " I am too far from the village for this to be a normal campfire or even a bonfire. Something terrible must of occurred."

It was at that moment that with a Woosh and a thud something hit the tree right next to him.

He slowly turns his head and there sticking out of the tree is a bizarre wooden stick with feathers attached to one end and a sharp stone tied to the other end Inches from his ear. His mouth opened wide out of shock and he blinked once, twice, thrice and then he spoke, "Why does this remind me of stalactites?"

Then looking towards the place where the arrow came from he saw a brute wielding a curved stick with a string attached to the ends. He was staring at Tavon dumbfounded. That was when Tavon registered the shield around him. "Ah, my shield rune activated. No wonder... no wonder." Almost as if Tavon's voice shattered a spell, the Brute vanished into the forest.

"I see, the village must have been attacked, but by whom? And from where didst they come from?"

Tavon stopped looking at the scenery and took off for the village at breakneck speed. Dodging the patrols one after another. But when he arrived at the village, it was completely destroyed.

"Dammit. This place is a mess. I guess this must of been the child's home. And these brutes, they are too much for me to handle at the moment." Tavon spoke while surveying the wreckage for any survivors. Unable to find any, he decided to go to the village on the other side of the caves. While planning how he was going to take care of the Brutes.

•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•

[Jeros POV]

I awaken to birds chirping, the sound of water sloshing in a bucket, and the feeling of warm sunlight on my body. However, after opening my eyes I realized I couldn't see! Not only that but the rest of my body wasn't responding, no matter how much I willed it to. Panic over took me and I screamed in my head, "Ahhhh!!!"

Maybe it was due to my panic, or because my mind, body, and soul were reconnecting to each other. But either way I gained the ability to speak with my mind and my mental scream was broadcasted to anyone nearby. And someone received it because after I stopped screaming an aged voice mumbled, "mind speaker". No sooner had the voice faded than rough scarred hands forced my mouth open and poured a foul smelling liquid down my throat. My brain slowly shut down, the panic fading as I fall asleep.

I slowly regain consciousness for the second time and hear the sound of fabric moving on skin as someone kneels next to me. Water sloshing in a bucket catches my attention, taking my focus away from the person next to me who is muttering unintelligibly. A person must be carrying the bucket because I then heard someone speak. "Healer? Here is the bucket of water and rags you asked for."

"Good I am going to need it, seeing as the boy has woke up and is trying to not let us know he did." The man called healer says. He dips a rag in the bucket and wipes my forehead. "Boy, can you understand me? If you can, then blink."

I blinked once and when I did the Healer spoke. "Good, now I want you to try thinking as hard as you can. Can you do that?"

I couldn't quite figure out what he wanted at first, but well, the four summers old kid I was just couldn't help but follow along. And so I thought as hard as I could, "SURE"

The Healer grunted and said with a voice full of amazement, "It IS mind speaking! He can mind speak!" I could hear the Healer person jumping up and down.

"Hey old man!" A gruff and young voice suddenly said. When this person spoke it caused the Healer person to fall, but the gruff voice person caught the Healer person before they hit the ground. At least, that was what I think happened based on the sounds.

The Healer with a voice full of fury said, "Acavon! How many times have I told you to knock before entering?!"

"Sorry Healer." The gruff young voice, Acavon said. "Oh right, when I came in I heard you say something about 'Mind Speak'. What is that about?"

"This young child here has the remarkable ability to Mind Speak. Mind Speaking is a rare ability granted to very few. And fewer still are able to use it at such a young age."

"Ah, really? Then do you know they do it?"

"..."

I had stopped listening at that point because when the aged voice or healer said that I was 'mind speaking' my 4 summers brain figured, that if I can speak with my mind then Surely I can move my body with my mind or even see with my mind if I try hard enough.

I started with sight, because it was something I couldn't live without. I tried to really hard to see, but not with my eyes but my mind. Surprisingly it worked, although Instead if seeing in one direction I was seeing in every direction.

However when I saw my new appearance for the first time I was shocked. I was covered in black scales with gold patterns. I had a tail, two bumps on my back, a blade like spike was attached to my elbows and knees. My fingers ended in claws and my ears were pointed. My feet resembled my hands, only the thumb was in the back like a spur.

After examining my body for a while I realized that for some reason I was avoiding my genital region. I hesitantly looked towards my genitalia… I had a penis, testicles and a vagina! I was completely dumbfound. The scales, claws, tail, clawed feet and spiky elbows I could understand and have seen on other creatures before, but to have both female AND male genitalia? I never saw anything like it before in my village.

(It was much later when I was about an aeon old that I came to know it was the intervention of a particular Goddess that I was still alive and even had my race changed. Although the Goddess refused to tell me why they did it, I inferred that I was a whole new species that was based off the Dragons, Elves and humans. In order for my "species" to spread I would have to be able to "breed" or have sex with more than just one gender. *shudders* However, Even now many aeons later, the reasons behind my changes elude me.)

When I recovered from my shock I looked at the people who were talking. The Aged voice came from a old man in a hemp robe, and the one called Acavon was standing in what appeared to be a doorway. He was wearing some shiny clothing(armor) and he was waving his arms around like he was trying to make a point.

And... I also realized that I had somehow made everything silent. Shortly after realizing that the world was silent, it was no longer silent. However, I wasn't able to move my body with my mind, no matter how hard I tried.

Giving up on trying move my body, i began to explore and play around with these new abilities. I discovered that I was able to not only make everything silent (rather as I learned later, I only turned off my hearing.) but I was able to selectively make things silent.

Around this time the Healer spoke inside my head freaking me out a little. "Child, I am mind speaking to you since you haven't been responding for a while. Can you please tell me who the man who brought you to us is? He left after making sure that you would get medical attention."

"Oh." Wanting to get back to playing around with my new abilities, I answered him. "Man? The wlast thwing I aware of is being thwrown into water, but couldn't see. Too bright. Thwen intense pwain, and darkness."

"So you don't know who the man is, do you?" Healer says sadly.

"I sowwy. I no know who." I mind spoke.

•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•

I learned later you give up your birth name when you become a healer, and that Acavon was the most seasoned warrior in the village. I even found that not only could I mind speak, use what Healer called Mind's eye' and control what I can hear, I could also hear better and farther than anyone in the village.

The people of the village grew to like me over time and even began to treat me like one of their own children. Although I suffered from nightmares about the night my village was destroyed, life was beginning to get better. I even learned that Villages have names! And the village I was staying at was called Na Village because everyone here were the Na family.

One night(or morning according to the villagers) I woke up to people yelling. Using my minds eye, I saw that a young man was standing outside the hut I was staying in. The young man was so angry his face was deep red and spittle flew from his mouth whenever he spoke. "How dare you bring a monster into this village!?" That person yelled with hatred dripping from his voice.

The young man was twice as tall as the current me (After the transformation I was around two and a half feet tall). His face was covered in craters and his eyes were really big. The hand he was waving around looked really bloated, and his belly... now that was the biggest belly I had ever seen before. I was kind of glad that the man was covering it up, after all it was so big it almost touched his feet.

To sum it up, he was u~gly. And most importantly, he fit the description of the youngest son of the village chief, whose name was Na Diaj, that was at the nearby City attending some kind of 'school'. He should of just come back.

"He is not a monster; He's only a little boy." The Healer says.

"No human has pointed ears, black and gold skin, scales, a tail or even wings!" Na Diaj said in retort.

"So being different makes him a monster? Does it even matter what he looks like?"

"Of course it matters what he looks like, if he doesn't look human then he is a monster. So what is your point old man?" Na Diaj said with his arms crossed and chin thrust out.

"Would you accuse a fellow human of being a monster just because they look different or follow a different God than you?" Healer with a slightly angry tone said.

"No, because they are obviously human."

"No human is the same in appearance and personality.

"Ugh, Fine. But if he turns out to be a monster and starts killing everyone, it is on you." Diaj said and stomped off.

Some time after the incident with Na Diaj, Healer and Na Acavon decided to teach me how to fight when I could see and walk. Healer said it was to allow me to get accustomed to my new body, while Na Acavon said that it was so I could protect myself from people like the brutes that killed my village.

In time my sight gradually returned along with control over my body. I also discovered that I had to relearn how to walk. And on top of that, the Healer forced my to wear strange things that he called clothes. Na Acavon also began teaching me to fight around this Time as well.

The other Villagers confused me very much because they wore the 'clothes' and talked about things like 'modesty' and 'privacy'. Healer taught me what he knew, he called it 'learning to be civilized'. I found it quite fun and when I could run I made it a game to strip the 'clothes' off and run around with him chasing me to his chagrin. Na Diaj never changed his mind and insisted that I was a monster.

However the peace did not last. The Brute Horde had long discovered the forbidden cave before Tavon brought me to Na Village. However, they got lost after entering and wandered about for eighty nights before finding the exit. They were overjoyed and began to offer sacrifices to what later scholars after examining the site believed to be totemic Gods. Seven nights after the celebration and sacrifice, the last Brute left the cave system.

They immediately regrouped and got into formation before choosing a direction and marching. It also just so happened that Na Village was in that direction.

After three nights of marching, the Horde of Brutes were almost at Na Village. They discovered traces of the Village hunters and became excited knowing that a village was nearby. However, any element of surprise they would of had was ruined because of a nearby village hunter. He saw the army and ran back to warn the village. The Village Chief evacuated the Village and went to the nearest City(The same one Na Diaj was going to 'school' at) upon learning of the approaching Horde.

The journey was unlike anything I had ever imagined. We crossed over several rivers, hills and even passed by a giant rock pillar that towered into the sky. When I asked about it, the villagers said that according to legend, it was a spear thrown by a god. After hearing everyone say 'the City' I asked if it had a name too. Mother Na(I call her that because she reminded me of my mother) responded saying, "The City's name is Vixiki City. It is said to be named after the city founder."

We eventually made it to the city and the Na Village chief spoke to the city leader. Vixiki City then sent a request for help to the other cities who sent a detachment to Vixiki City. Once the troops were gathered and organized into an army, they marched towards Na Village.

In the meantime, I wasn't exactly comfortable. My appearance brought me many troubles and ostracizing. I was almost killed before entering the city it wasn't for the villagers who protected me. Guards eventually put me in the prison under heavy guard. They couldn't decide what to do with me, and they didn't exactly believe the Na Villagers either. As a result, they sent a request through a branch of a mage guild(which was a place where people with the ability to control magicka gathered They called themselves Mages). They wanted a couple of mages to come and check me out to see if I was dangerous or not before letting me go back to the Na Villagers. I spent my time in the cell by carving pictures on the walls with my claws.

Several Nights later three people sent by the mage guild arrived. They wanted to see the "creature" described in the request letter before they rested. Complying to their request the city lord brought them to see me. When they arrived at the cell I was in and looked in, they almost immediately began to treat me as some kind of priceless item.

"Look at the scales!" One said. "The patterns on them resemble the markings of the Gods."

"You are right!" A different mage said. "And they don't appear to be engraved or painted on. It looks like the markings are part of the scales!"

"Not only that, have you noticed the aura they give off?" The third mage said gesturing towards me. " if I am not mistaken that is the aura of a dragon, and possibly the aura of Gaia!"

"You are right!" The first mage said wishing he could go in there and dissect me.

"But if that is the case..." the second mage pauses after glancing at the first mage. "Hey, Ga Nari, remember the Mage Guild's rules! Don't even think Of harming the creatures with Gaia's aura!"

Upon hearing the words of the second mage, Ga Nari smiles bitterly and says, "I know. Rule 1: Do mess with anything with Gaia's aura unless you are a Follower of Gaia and have her Express Permission."

"Good. Now, let's just make sure that creature is safe." The second Mage said with a heavy sigh.

"All right you two, let's go get some rest and report the matter to the guild. Anything involving Gaia is very dangerous and tricky." The third mage said turning around to look at the City Leader. "Show us to our accommodations."

The city leader smiles and nods. "This way esteemed mages."

The next day the mages returned to the cell. They chant in some weird language and a mystical light swirled around me. They discuss among themselves a bit before doing it again. They leave after doing chanting three more time and seeming to not get the results they want. Two nights later five different mages come to my cell, and I stopped caring as I got engrossed in the drawings I was making.

This time the light is a gentle soothing green, and they only chant once before leaving and saying some words to the city leader. I was finally released and handed back to the villagers.

While all that was happening to me, over near the Mountains the Brutes discovered and arrived at the village expecting riches and blood, only to find out it was empty of everything except for a cloaked figure standing in the village center prepared to fight. The Large Brute, denied plunder and blood, threatened the figure. "Tell me now! Where are Villagers! If no Tell, I kill you!" To the surprise of tHe Brute, rather than obediently telling him what he wanted to know, The figure stepped into the moonlight revealing a smirk upon his face.

"What so Funny?" the Large Brute said as he Scowled.

"That you would be so foolish as to challenge ME after Slaughtering the village under MY protection." Not long after the stranger spoke, there was an explosion, multiple flashes of light, screams of pain and then silence. When the smoke clears the Brutes were no more and the village was reduced to a crater. As for the stranger, he was nowhere to be seen.

Several nights later, the City Troops arrived. Yet what greeted them was the sight of the crater and the body parts laying around. They cleaned up the body parts while they looked for the rest of the Horde. They found nothing. Puzzled and worried the troops returned to the city.

When the villagers learned that the horde was demolished along with their empty village and the capitol was sending people to help rebuild it, they did not know what to feel. But they still went back to their village grounds and I went with them of course. I did not like the city people, they often mistook me for something called a 'Magic Beast'.

The journey was uneventful, and we soon arrived at the village. Once there we saw with our own eyes the crater. After much discussion the village chief decided to build the village in the crater. It took the villagers and me many nights to rebuild the village but the question of what happened was never answered.