Chapter 4 Andrea the Anomaly

"Business? Territory? What does she mean?" all kinds of thoughts spun in the boy's head.

He knew if he didn't answer he would die, but what would he say?

"I-", "don't know." the boy decided to answer truthfully as he had no other choice. "You don't know?" the woman asked confused. "I don't remember anything."

"You have amnesia?" the woman asked but the boy stared at her with a confused expression. "You don't have your memories?"

"Yes."

"What an odd existence you walk outside naked but have no genitals, you look like a human but don't have a drop of mana in you, you also don't have a mana core like magical beasts and don't have your memories." the woman said this to herself as she was deep in thought.

"I have never seen anything like you, you might be a weak and lesser spirit but I can't be too sure." she told him.

"Are you male or female?" she asked but, the boy just stared at her with a dumb expression again.

"You have the mannerisms of a young boy yet you look and sound like a young girl."

"Enough with the baseless assumptions, I will take a peek at your memories, if you're lying I will slaughter you right here but if not I can let you stay in my domain."

When she said that she strode to the boy and calmly placed her hand on his head, her hand was surprisingly soft and firm.

Her third eye opened and it's dominating presence made the atmosphere become hard to breath in. He suddenly felt an electric jolt zap his head and a searing pain after, move around on the top of his head.

After the pain stopped the woman stepped back and closed all of her eyes deep in thought.

"So you first woke up in the cave but your presence was diminished due to your fatigue. You got out of the cave out to my forest, when I detected teleportation magic being used and came to search for an intruder but I found you instead passed out due to poisoning at death's doorstep and healed you. Everything adds up."

Sigh

"Fine then, I have judged that you're not a threat and have decided that you can stay in the forest, but that's about it, you will have to survive on your own odd cub."

"I advise you to go the nearby human village outside the forest, they can find out what to do with you." she said as she started to make a gesture but stopped midway.

"Hold on a second," she paused, "Do you know what language is?"

The boy shook his head and stared in confusion.

"Ok, how about a deal then?" , "I will teach you a few basic things and how to survive in the forest in exchange you allow me to experiment on you."

"Deal?" she said as she raised her hand confidently.

The boy really didn't understand what that meant but he wanted to stay in the forest as it was the only place he knew together with the cave, also learning 'a few basic things' couldn't be bad right?

He shook her hand instinctively and looked at the woman whose smile grew mischievously.

"Deal!" the woman said.

"Hey, I can't keep calling you cub so I will bestow you a name you as you don't have any."

She sized up the boy again and went into deep thought.

"Cu-, Cubian, No maybe… Cubon?" she kept whispering to herself.

"Something that's scared hmm," , "Wait I know! A Del deer!"

"Your name will be Del!" she said as she pointed at the boy in excitement.

The boy was confused as to what was a Del deer but it didn't sound bad and she looked like she put some effort into thinking that name, so Del it is.

After calming down she made a gesture with her hand and the chair the boy was sitting on floated to one end of the table and she sat on the opposite end, directly staring at the boy.

"So, what do you want to know?"

Del felt his anxiousness ease up as she could answer his questions.

"Where… am I?"

"Del, you are in my forest, the Forest of Death," , "More specifically you woke up in a cave in the forest but I don't know how you got there in the first place."

"Your forest?"

He wrinkled his brows in confusion.

"Yes, the forest of death is a territory that was given to me by the Alliance."

"The Alliance is a group that was formed consisting of the 5 major races that dwell on the Mother World, Ashelon."

Ashelon? Alliance of 5 races? Del was having a hard time digesting all this information.

The explanation continued for a few more hours after that.

What Del had understood is that the world he was in was named Ashelon, the Mother World and it consisted of various lifeforms that dwelt on it. First were the 5 major races that formed an upside down pyramid, with the top being the most powerful and influential races, the elves, the humans and the dwarves. In the middle was the minor or lesser spirits that were the least common and finally in the bottom was the intelligent beasts that were the most common.

"What race are you then?" Del question her but soon regretted it when her eyes sharpened and the atmosphere became thick again. Luckily, it was only for a second as she loosened up and sighed.

"I guess there is no harm in telling you."

"I am an intelligent beast of the Tox-Panth species."

"Do all beasts have their own territory?" He asked.

"No, I am a special case."

She looked up as if reminiscing on something.

"How special?"

Del looked at her with curiosity as he asked this question.

The woman was surprised by the question but impressed by Del's boldness.

"Very special, in fact am such an important figure on the Mother World that I was given a title."

Del leaned closer subconsciously.

"I am Andrea, the Witch Of Jerah!"

Del's hairs stood on their end when she said these words in an imposing way. She stood and raised her hands as if saying it to all of Ashelon. Her black eyes gleamed in the lamp light and her aura alone was enough to make 10,000 men bow down to her.

"Wi-tch?" Del answered in fear.

"Yes, witch."

She took in and out slow breaths and after calming herself she sat back and continued.

She lowered her voice and Del couldn't help but concentrate on her next words.

"I am an evil witch that terrorized the Mother World and almost doomed it a very long time ago."

"Unfortunately for me, the three major races agreed to unite and created a party of heroes who led an army that eventually sealed me in the Death Forest."

"They erased most of my past and twisted the story to their favor in order to be able to unite the citizens together creating a monopoly known as the Alliance."

Her eyes briefly flashed with sadness.

"Anyway, that's enough for today, do you believe the story?"

"No" Del answered almost immediately.

"You said earlier that you were given the forest, so there is more to your story."

Andrea was astonished by the boy's astute observation and high level intuition.

"Well, you're correct in that there is more to the story but I will leave it for another time most of the story is what is written in today's history books."

She stood and her third eye opened as the air became thicker and heavier.

"Wait, I have one more question."

"Ask."

"How did I not notice you when I woke up in the forest and how did we move from the forest to this place so fast and also how are you able to make chairs floats and why do you have a third eye!?"

Del panted after dumping all of those question of his chest.

Andrea's smirk grew when she heard this.

"Magic."

"If you want to learn what it's about, head to the river tomorrow."

She snapped her fingers when she finished and Del found himself in the part of the forest where he had ate the poisoned fruit and passed out.

It was nighttime and the stars shone brightly that day, the moonlight illuminated the whole forest and a brisk wind blew through the forest. Del decided to lay on the floor and try to think about what had he had been told but found himself feeling oddly comfortable and warm.

He ended up falling asleep unwillingly.