11: A Healer's Job is to Keep Someone Alive.

[23/03/1976] - After Birthday Party, Backyard of the Oriundo Family.

"Ah..." Sighing, Derek softly held out his hand and concentrated- A head stretched out forward and touched his hand softly, and he felt, for that moment, like he was in a horse girl movie where the horse is actually a dragon. "...Se apenas você fosse um dragão." (If only you were a dragon). The large snake with fiery scales looked deeply offended after he said this.

This is one of the many legends of Brazil - The Boitatá, a species of magical snake that can set itself ablaze! Many brazilian legends tell the tale of hunters or those who have damaged nature only to get attacked by this protector of the forest. Magical in nature, the Boitatá is a very peaceful being, unless it sees you as a threat for their mother tree nest, then they will attack you. These beasts are known for their protectiveness of their territory and home. They live in the same tree where hatch, fiercely protecting it with their own lives- The Mother Tree as it is commonly called. This one, though, lives in his backyard as a guard for his home! Derek has played with this snake longer than he has known that apparently Brazil is the best country when it comes to Magizoology and Herbology, thanks to a few factors:

Factor 1: Brazil has a Nemeton, commonly known as the Gathering Point, where magic is stronger and denser, which makes the Amazon a really strong and deep forest. The magic in the forest naturally converted normal animals to magical ones that are still being discovered and cataloged as new species or variant species! Like the Boitatá Runespor, a hybrid between the Boitatá and the three-headed snake that is the Runespor. There is also a small blue hummingbird that each time it flaps its wings, it creates a small burst of blue flames- They are called Will-O'-Whisp, and apparently they have a common ancestor to the Phoenix, which categorizes this little guy in the Phonia Family of Magical Birds.

Factor 2: Brazil has a lot of ancient knowledge from many, many tribes that have lived on this land before it got colonized in the 1500s. This knowledge has been passed down orally by tales and anecdotes and survived and thrived time after time. Such knowledge was shared amongst all, and it gave birth to the greatest Magizoology book of all time: [Learning Nature through Nature's Eyes - by High Priestess Oriundo], and yep, the one who wrote was his mother- Gotcha! She might be old, but she isn't that old. In fact, the one who wrote it was his great-grandmother, who's still alive at 135 years, his grandmother, who is 88 years old, and his mom, who refuses to tell him her age. Back to the book: It covers a lot about Magizoology, the behavior of many magical animals, and even how to avoid them! She was even recognized by the WWW - World Wide Wizards, the world organization that has been rebranded by the many alliances of nations across the planet - and received the title of High Priestess, which is her nickname till now.

Factor 3: There are a lot of types of magical and non-magical plants that grow in Brazil - I mean, we've got the warm, temperate, cold, arid, and even rainy climates naturally, which increases the qualities of each plant by a lot. This made Brazil the best and the number one in shipping these plants to sell! With so much great material, of course, Brazil has a lot of really talented Potion Makers. Do you wanna brew life? Reginaldo Martinez de Andrade has brewed in 1912 a potion that has been sold and given to others. These potions are what it'd come to mind when you think of "Health Potion," but better. Why? It gave you back 10 years of your life.

Sure, it only worked about 3 times before losing its effect, but it still is an incredible achievement, achieved by Brazil.

And at last, but not least, Factor 4: Brazil has an organization called Raizes da Mesma Árvore - Roots of the Same Tree - which is a Herbalist + Potion Masters! They produce in bulk and sell even bulkier! Most potions on the market here are from them... Derek has taken many of their potions growing up, mostly because he'd hurt himself and not notice - like that time, he broke both his arms. He didn't know they were broken, but when they went limp, he noticed.

Regrowing bones feels weirdly tingly...

"Let's see..." A thin thread of purple magic flowed out of his forehead for a moment before he gave his intent-

[Mind Spell - Link (A)

Description: You link your mind to someone else's, being able to share anything from memories, emotions, sensations, thoughts, and others as you wish. Can be used both to heal and harm.

+ Mind Attack Spell

+ Mind Mending Spell]

- and connected to the snake's mind. "~You hear me now~?" The snake nodded its blazing head positively, then a whisper came to his mind from the snake: "~...family~" Ah, right- This big guy has been living in his family's backyard for years, he has seen his sisters grow! He still has this big spot of his head, where a dark wizard had used a powerful explosive spell on poor Braza (Ember in Portuguese), making the snake unable to protect his mother and that ended up causing him to be porn with this never-ending curse that keeps fueling his rage and destructive desires by making him suffer endless pain, all the time. "Yeah... family." Derek didn't blame Braza, though. He is a good snek.

A cute danger noodle.

"So next is trying to find that little guy..." Derek was 5 now, and he had the physical appearance of a 12 year old. It's ridiculous how fast Half-Giants develop, he id starting to feel the effects of puberty right fucking now and he hates each and every moment he feels a heavy mixture of horny and murderous. "Wy?" (Read as Wii, you know, the video game) Derek called the name of the little guy he loved, waiting for a squawk or response in some sort of way - In an instant, before him stood a majestic, pale grey-blue, dodo bird. This is Wy, a Diricawl! While Muggles believed this bird to be extinct, but in reality, it existed and had the ability to disappear and reappear elsewhere as a means of escaping danger, similar to Apparition, while Muggles remain unaware of this. The International Confederation of Wizards (who now are called WWW: World Wide Wizards) had not seen fit to reveal that the animal still existed since it seemed to have raised Muggle awareness of the consequences of slaying their fellow creatures indiscriminately.

"Oh, there you are." Derek grinned before holding the big boy above his head easily. At the same time, he sent a mental connection to the little bird (Little to him, the animal had the same size as a 5 year old toddler) and received the same emotions as always - Happiness and a calming sensation. Diricawls are really chill birds. They don't react to most predators because they can simply teleport away from them, even as a chick! The only beast they fear is the Displacer Beast... Displacer beasts are large cat-like creatures, sometimes described as panther- or puma-like with six legs and a pair of tentacles 5 feet (1.5 meters) long sprouting from their shoulders. The tentacles ended in pads with sharp horny edges, brownish yellow in color. They are covered in a pelt of blue-black fur. They are usually about 9 feet (2.7 meters) long and weighed as much as 500 pounds (230 kilograms), but the occasional mutant could be twice this size. Female displacer beasts are generally smaller in size, from 8 feet (2.4 meters) to 9 feet (2.7 meters) in length and weighing 450 pounds (200 kilograms). It is believed that displacers can live up to a hundred years.

Why do Diricawls fear this beast?

Well, because they can magically bend light and space. That's why they are called Displacer Beasts! They are exceptional at stealth, illusion magic, and teleportation magic, seeing as they can interrupt other's teleportation and keep them where they are. This is why when a Diricawl sees a Displacer Beast, they will fight to the death with the big black panther instead of trying and teleporting away.

Displacer Beasts are natural predators to the Fey.

"~surprise~" Came then a sensation from the nig dodo bird that was translated into a word inside Derek's mind. "Uh? You have a surprise for me?" He asked, letting the bird down as it nodded like an excited child before darting towards a single direction - Derek followed along, curious as to why was Wy so excited... It could be several different reasons to be fair, from finding a nice rock to getting a big stick from a tree to even finding one of Braza's lost bright scarlet red scales. But as Derek went over a rather large bush, he came face to face with a ground nest, and in that nest, twelve bright blue chicken-sized eggs.

Fun fact, like Penguins, the Male Diricawl will take care of the egg until it hatches, and unlike Penguins, the female Diricawl will simply leave the Male Diricawl to take care of her babies... This behavior is similar to ostriches, even though these eggs might be from several different males at the same time.

"Huh." Derek said, surprised at the twelve eggs. "Congratulations...?" Derek patted Wy's head in a little surprise because he never thought the little guy would one day become a dad! Because we all know, father is the one to progeny, dad is the one who takes care and responsibility for his children.

And oh my, 12 of them? Derek couldn't help but feel a little excited to see how cute they'd look.

-Scene Cut-

Otto held the man's throat, his fingers clenching tightly on it. His beloved wife walked forward, her steps as soft as feathers, soundless and delicate - Her appearance at that moment was nothing but the absolute contrary of such a thing! Her cheek and clothes had splattered blood and even a little bit of skin and internal organs.

"Now..." she softly touched the captive man's skin. It instantly started to melt and decay at her touch, as if time was being accelerated and the man was decaying in front of their very eyes! "Tell me, where is your little leader?" Otto shivered a little, loving how his wife was so cold towards their enemies! She was, in fact, proficient in healing.

She knew how to keep someone alive, but in terrible, horrible pain.

And that? That was sexy.