Chapter 5

They both shot forward, feet pounding against the grass as they sprinted toward the treeline. Elia took an early lead, her natural speed giving her an edge in the open field. But Nick wasn't far behind. He could already feel his competitive side kicking in, urging him to push harder. He might not have been a kid in mind, but his body and hormones were still those of an eleven-year-old, and he had always hated losing anyway.As they reached the forest's edge, the terrain shifted. The path narrowed, forcing them to duck under low-hanging branches and leap over roots that jutted out from the ground. Elia was still ahead, her lithe form darting through the obstacles with ease, but Nick had a trick up his sleeve he had been preparing. Admittedly, it was in case he was ever in danger and not to beat a kid in a race, but this would be a good field test.

"αἴσθησις(aisthesis)" With a quick mutter under his breath, he cast a minor sensory enhancement spell. It wasn't much—just a small boost to his awareness of his surroundings that his grandfather claimed had been passed down from the patriarch of his family back when he had been a simple hoplite in Athens' army—but it was enough to help him spot the most efficient routes through the trees. He could feel the subtle shifts in the air, the way the branches swayed, the slight differences in the density of the undergrowth. It wasn't flashy, but it gave him the edge he needed.

A new notification blinked at the edge of his consciousness, but he paid no attention. That it had appeared was enough to know the System would recognize even such simple spells.

Nick gained ground, cutting through a narrow gap between two trees that Elia had avoided. The spell let him anticipate where the path would twist, allowing him to move more smoothly. He was right on her heels now, the gap between them shrinking with each step.

The clearing opened to them as they matched each other's pace. Gnarled roots ran its width, making for treacherous terrain and allowing Nick to keep up despite the superior strength of a beastman.

The canopy was dense above their heads, cutting off most sunlight and only filtering enough for his spell to inform him something was moving in his periphery, but not what.

They reached the massive tree at almost the same time, both of them slapping a hand against its rough bark. Nick felt a surge of triumph as his fingers made contact—he hadn't expected to keep up this well. But there was no time to celebrate. They both turned to race back to the starting point, and that's when they heard it.

A low, rumbling growl echoed through the trees.

Nick and Elia froze in their tracks, immediately on high alert. The playful atmosphere of the race evaporated in an instant, and the real world filtered back in. Nick's heart pounded in his chest, not from exertion but from the sudden adrenaline rush. He glanced at Elia, whose ears had perked up, twitching as she tried to locate the source of the sound.

"Stay close," Nick whispered, his voice barely audible. He could feel the tension in the air, the way the forest had suddenly gone silent around them. Whatever was out there, they didn't want to face unprepared.

Despite being a few months shy of twelve, Elia didn't complain or scream. Instead, she silently moved closer to him, scanning the trees warily. "Did you see it?" She whispered, though with how quickly Nick was cycling through his mana, it felt like it was a scream.

"Only a glimpse." Nick's senses were on overdrive. Every rustle of leaves and shift of shadows sent a jolt through him. The wind brought him the smell of mud and the tang of sickness. He hadn't seen the creature clearly, but the growl told him enough—it was close and not friendly. He glanced at Elia, who had dropped into a low crouch, her eyes narrowed and focused on the direction the sound had come in. She was ready for a fight.

A tall, brown wolf emerged from the shadows, stepping into the clearing. It was gaunt, with ribs visible beneath its ragged fur. Foam frothed at the edges of its mouth, and its eyes glinted with a wild, sickly madness. Nick's stomach tightened. Rabid, most likely. One bite from it could mean a slow, agonizing death if they weren't treated in time. And it was blocking the only path back to the temple.

The Green Ocean's trees had a notorious reputation for swallowing sound, making it nearly impossible for anyone outside the immediate area to hear them. Screaming wouldn't bring attention or help. The only way out was through the wolf.

Elia let out a low growl of her own, her nails thickening and sharpening into claws. Her fox-like features became more pronounced, and Nick could see the raw strength and agility of her beastman heritage emerge, transforming the girl into something primal and dangerous. "I'll handle it," she whispered with a voice that was just different enough from her usual one to tell him the changes were beyond skin-deep.

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For a moment, Nick was struck by jealousy. He'd really have enjoyed having a non-human body to explore. He also admired her bravery, but there was no way he would let her face the wolf alone. She was strong, yes, but she was still a kid. He couldn't stand by and let her protect him when he knew he could do something, even if it meant revealing more of himself than he'd intended.

Having spent all his previous life hiding as the world moved on from magic, it went against his every instinct. And he had good reasons for not showing off even now. No one would think it possible for a recently classed kid to suddenly develop entirely new spells, especially if they had no magic teacher. And yet, he had to do something. Even if it meant putting himself under the reflectors. Doing nothing meant death.

Unfortunately, Nick hadn't had the chance to practice any offensive spell yet. The few he had been able to reliably cast in his old life required too much preparation or were too risky. If he used something powerful to kill the wolf in a blow, it could leave a residue—a magical signature that any decent mage would be able to detect.

It wasn't just fear of being discovered that led him to wait. His experiment with the Welcoming of the Sun showed that the System did interfere with spells, even if they were based on entirely different methods.

Time was of the essence here, and so he couldn't set up a ritual like he would have done on any other occasion. Of those few active spells he could reliably cast with only his mana pool, one came to mind. It was a bit different than his usual, which was why he had spent so much time getting it right.

Slowly, he crouched down, his eyes never leaving the wolf, and grabbed hold of a decently sharp stick from the ground. Elia shot him a confused look, knowing that the wooden weapon would snap the second it touched the beast's dense fur, but before she could say anything, Nick took a deep breath and, with a swift motion, stabbed the stick into his palm. Pain flared through his hand, and blood welled up from the wound, but it was precisely what he needed.

Both Elia and the wolf reacted in shock. Elia's eyes widened in alarm, and even in its maddened state, the wolf tilted its head in confusion, momentarily thrown off by Nick's unexpected action.

Nick grit his teeth, focusing on the spell as he smeared his blood across the bark of the tree closest to him. The familiar words tumbled from his lips, almost instinctively. “ An Eye for an Eye." He whispered, feeling the magic coil within him like a tightly wound spring.

Sympathetic links were dangerous stuff. If he had dared try it on the wolf directly, he could have just as easily been overwhelmed by its mind. Even if that wasn't likely, given his experience, the beast was sick with something he wasn't sure of, and he certainly didn't want to give it a chance to spread to him.

Instead of directly affecting the wolf, Nick connected to the tree—using the ancient, massive roots as his conduit. His blood, smeared across the bark, was enough to establish the bond, and his will surged into the earth, sharpened by his pain, weaving through the tree's natural mana. He felt the pulse of life deep within the roots, slow and ancient, and then he pushed. Surprisingly for a magical forest, the roots responded eagerly, shifting beneath the ground, waiting for his command.

The wolf snarled once more, madness returning to its bloodshot eyes. It crouched low, preparing to lunge. Nick could see its muscles coil, its lips pulling back in a crazed snarl, and he knew they were out of time. Elia prepared to defend him in what would have likely been her heroic last act.

With a sharp exhale, Nick tightened his mental grip on the tree's roots, willing them to strike. As the wolf jumped at them, a thick, gnarled root erupted from the ground, spearing upward with a force that made Nick's very being strain with the effort. The root pierced the wolf's belly, who let out a high-pitched whine, a horrible, pained sound that echoed through the clearing. But it wasn't enough. The wolf thrashed violently, snapping its jaws in a desperate attempt to free itself.

Nick didn't hesitate. He grabbed hold of another root with his mind, dragging it up from the earth. This one moved slower, the strain of manipulating the ancient tree taking its toll on his childlike mana reserves. He could only use this kind of magic because he was compensating with a sacrifice and abusing Parsimonia to handle most of the spell manually—that had been the bulk of his preparation.

But he forced it forward, and with a surge of effort, the second root shot up and impaled the wolf again, this time through its side. Blood splattered onto the ground, and the wolf's movements slowed as the life drained from its body.

Elia gaped beside him, eyes wide with shock as she watched the roots tear into the beast. "How…?" she breathed, her voice barely a whisper.

Nick couldn't respond. His focus was entirely on the spell, on holding the roots in place until the wolf finally went still. It twitched once more, a pathetic sound escaping its throat, and then it collapsed, lifeless.

The clearing fell into an eerie silence, the only sound the faint rustling of leaves above them.

Nick released his hold on the tree with a shaky breath. The roots receded back into the earth, leaving the wolf's bloodied corpse behind. His vision swam momentarily as the exhaustion from using so much mana hit him all at once. He blinked rapidly, trying to steady himself, and that was when the notifications blinked into his awareness.

SYSTEM ALERT

New Spell Developed: Hoplite's Help (Sensory Enhancement)

Mastery: BeginnerExperience Gained: 600

New Spell Developed: An Eye for an Eye (Sympathetic Link)

Mastery: BeginnerExperience Gained: 1200

Forest Wolf (Sick) Killed

Experience Gained: 200

Level up!

Level up!

His arm was roughly shaken, and Nick turned to give Elia an annoyed glare. However, she was staring past him, her expression more startled than the curious one he was used to. She wasn't looking at him—she was looking at the massive tree they had just been racing to.

"Nick…" Elia whispered, voice trembling. She pointed toward the tree.

Nick followed her gaze and felt his breath catch in his throat. Emerging from the massive tree's bark was a feminine and ethereal figure. Her skin was the color of wood, her hair like cascading leaves. She stepped forward with a grace that couldn’t belong to a mortal, her eyes glowing a deep, ancient green.

This was a dryad.