11 A Village Forms

  Anna shivers as she returns to the small village. Many worried faces are waiting there to greet her. Franklin rushes into her arms with tears in his eyes. The poor twelve-year-old boy had lost his father only a few years ago in the war and can't help but worry about his mother.

  "How was it?" Arron asks with worry.

  With a wry smile on her face, Anna looks at Arron while hugging her child. "Hard to say. At least the bull accepted the offering," Anna replies.

  Melisa, a young mother herself, gently grabs Anna's arm that is still lightly shaking. "Are you alright? You should let the men undertake such dangers. Think of your boy," Mellisa consoles Anna.

  "It was truly fearsome. It felt like I was going to be crushed just from a look." Anna replies, squeezing Franklin tightly to calm her nerves.

  "No wonder those wolves did not dare to enter this clearing," Gregory, a slightly graying haired man mumbled as he glanced at the Forrest. Gregory is the oldest in the small village at the age of forty.

  Indeed they can all feel the aura coming from the hill even from here. What would it feel like to be right in front of such a savage beast? They wonder with fear and awe in their hearts.

  "You are so brave!" Laurel, a young girl of the age of ten, runs over with bright eyes looking at Anna, her new idol. Mellisa frowns, however, not sure if she likes that her daughter finds such adventures exciting.

  "Ha, Ha, this is how kids should be," Gregory laughs as he ruffles the girl's hair much to her annoyance. Laurel escapes hiding behind her mom and glaring at the old man. With this humorous display, the tense atmosphere finally dissipates.

  Noticing that everyone is more relaxed, Gregory smiles as he announces, "alright, everyone back to work. There is still much to do if we want to stay here."

  With new smiles on their faces, the rest of the refugees return to work. The men are digging a well since it is dangerous to travel to the river. While the river is nearby, they have to run back while being chased by the local demonic beasts. The women, on the other hand, sow seeds in the gardens while watching the kids.

  After a few days, things settle into a routine. The well is half dug, and the gardens are finished. They have begun foraging in the nearby forest. Still, they don't dare wander too far, or they may be cut off from the safety of the clearing.

  Franklin will sometimes go off by himself, waving a wooden sword around. While he thinks he is sneaky, the women can only laugh as they can still see him not too far away. He is too afraid to venture far.

  Laurel is curious and eventually decides to follow this older boy. Since his mom is so awesome, she is curious about what Franklin is up to as well. "What are you doing?" She asks Franklin, who is swinging a wooden sword up and down as he yells, "hua."

  Franklin Jumps from the sudden intrusion. He loses his grip on his sword, sending it flying a couple of feet away. "Be careful now, Franklin!" His mom yells. Franklin looks around, surprised that he is being watched.

  "What do you want?" he asks glancing at the girl as he goes to grab his sword.

  Laurel can't help but giggle as the boy sheepishly walks away from her. "I just saw you playing by your self, so I came over!" Laurel states proudly with a pure smile. Franklin slightly blushes before grunting, changing into a glare. "I'm training to be a warrior, not playing some game."

  "Oh, that's super cool!" The young girl can't help but throw some punches with a "hiyah." Franklin can't stay angry at this cute girl. Even he feels that the punches being thrown can't hurt a fly.

  "Yeah, I want to be like my father. He was super strong..." His smile soon turns gloomy, "he died in the war, though. If he'd been here, we wouldn't have had so much trouble." Franklin's grip on his sword hilt grows stronger as his knuckles turn white.

  "I'm sure you'll be way strong," Laurel squeals as she throws her arms open to show how strong he will be.

  "Alright, you can't bother me while I'm training, okay?" Franklin says as he looks at the girl who doesn't seem to have a care in the world.

  Laurel nods with a determined look in her eyes "Okay."

  Neither of these kids notices that the women aren't the only ones watching them. A small bush on the hill often extends his senses out to spectate the small village.

  On the hill, John is cultivating by circling the sun and earth energy as usual. Joe is eating happily, and the fight about his name has been forgotten.

  "So that kid wants to cultivate, huh? Do you think I should help him out?" John asks the bull with a bit of excitement.

  "Buru?" Joe scoffs.

  "What do you mean, what do I know about cultivation? I'm a brilliant bush!" John responds, incensed by the lack of confidence. He gently shakes his leaves to show Joe his anger.

  Joe hops up and down while glaring at his annoying hill mate, "Snort."

  "I can't walk? While you can't talk!" John rages angrily, "Who's dumb now!"

  The argument continues much like this throughout the day.

  "Fine, I'll show you! I still know a few tricks." John decides to use a small trick he learned over his hundred years in his sect.

  Sure he was a nobody and never got to go into the treasury to pick a cultivation, but he still picked up a few things. He had once been bored of gardening and thought he could have a bit of fun teasing new sect members in their dreams.

  This only lead to him being beaten up by his juniors much to his chagrin. It isn't very useful. Not like those powerful dream techniques that allow one to kill people in their dreams. He can't affect anything while in the dreams. However, he can use it to teach the child a few things sneakily.

  In the past, he was weak and could never soar in the heavens. Still, in comparison to an average child, he might as well be a god among men. Even he could slaughter ordinary soldiers by the hundreds.