Prologue 2: What was expected was unexpected.

"Oh, please forgive me for not telling you, my name is George", said the teenager in a respectful manner to Hatz,

Hearing this name, Hatz's mind seemed to be stimulated in some way, and his head began to ache, thinking, Why does this sound...very familiar. The tingling sound has been going on in Hatz's head for quite some time, thinking that he has forgotten something very important.

Hatz thought he was overthinking it, so he ignored the feeling,

"George! A very nice name! My brother's name is Henry and they say my name sounds weird compared to him, but that doesn't bother me because it sounds unique to me! Hahahaha!" Hatz inexplicably said this, acting proud.

George froze slightly, smiled, and closed his eyes then replied." Well, it is unique indeed."

Hatz's eyes went wide, "Really! Ah, I'm so happy! Hehehe! Oh, right! I have to go pick strawberries, I can't leave empty-handed before I go home, want to join me?"

"Sure," George replied with a nod. Wholesome indeed.

As they were picking strawberries together in the forest, Hatz thought that George's answers were very short and indifferent, but respectful in a young man of that age, and thought of it with a silent sigh for himself, probably because Hatz thought he was not as mature as George and is usually too playful to have this kind of behavior.

I don't know why I feel very open today, the interesting thing about George is that he does not belong to this village, I have never seen him before up until now. It is also my first time seeing someone with such a healing yet holy presence.

...

healing? Hatz stole a glance at George when he wasn't looking.

George was walking ahead and continuing to search for strawberry bushes.

Dummy, he just looks like it, how can he be a spirit, spirits have long disappeared in this world and become rare. Although, the special characteristic of spirits is that they can be transformed into combat weapons. However, in the past, humans used them as tools for killing and abused their power for the sake of democracy and hierarchy, and it is rare to obtain spiritual power. Humans need to master the connection between spirits and become closer to each other to be able to exert the true power of the spirits. Sadly, since the rise of humans using this power, the spirits saw their greed and desire then gradually one by one, the spirits lost interest in this world and returned to heaven. Henceforth, being isolated from the world is the only reason why spirits are rare. Greed always fools the truth. Dad said that the spirits in the past were very sacred and rare, so they are even rarer in the present age. The feeling of healing can also be said to be the presence of spirits, but I can't quite confirm it yet. After thinking about it, Hatz made a sad face, feeling very sad, especially because he pitied these spirits and wanted to help them.

Hatz continued to look at George, and George knew what Hatz was thinking about,

….He must be starting to suspect me, guessed, he smiled a little, ignoring the heavy gaze, and continued to walk forward.

But what I don't understand is why the spirits are in this world if they know they are just being used, and what interest do they have in coming to this world? And why? Hatz thought long and hard on his way. Although he did not trip his footing he still became so distracted he didn't know where he was headed.

"Uh, Hatz," George said with a smile, he came up to him then patted Hatz on the shoulder and pointed his finger at the basket.

"Huh?"

As he came back to reality, he directed his attention towards the straw basket, he was shocked for a while since the basket was already full of fresh strawberries, "Ah! Wait! How come there's so many already!?" he stuttered a little, "D-Did you really pick them all? And," before he could finish, Hatz took a closer look with a hungry expression, George went toward a bush, he crouched then picked up the strawberries and cleaned them, Hatz said, "They look really good ..."

George smiled a little toward the cleaned strawberry then looked at Hatz who was standing behind him, "Want to try it?" Asked calmly, showing a strawberry to Hatz.

"No no no," shook his head sidewards repeatedly, "mom will get mad" he paused a little then stated, "... And mom only gives it to the elders, not us kids haha". The elders in his village are treated well enough compared to the growing kids because this was to show respect for how far they have survived until now.

"It's okay, it's hard not to have your mom install a camera or tracker on you, don't worry no third person will know" George joked to Hatz, not knowing that this line was affecting him.

"Then ..." Due to his impulse for strawberries, since he has never eaten one, he gave up, "Just one." George gave him one and ate bite after bite, the strawberry in his mouth became smaller and smaller but sweeter.

"Wow! So sweet!" The strawberry in his mouth was as sweet as candy, this was a feeling and a taste that Hatz has never tried before.

George looked at the ongoing scene in front of him and smiled a little, glad to see Hatz could taste the strawberry.

With a thrilling look on his face, Hatz said, "Mom will be so happy to see so many strawberries! Thanks, George!" Looking at George like a puppy with his tail wagging at the back, though it is just imaginary.

"I'm glad I could be of help," George replied even though Hatz was acting too excited, and then Hatz suddenly blurted out, "I owe you one, George! Thanks to you, Mom will be very happy to use these strawberries for tonight's feast,"

"Oh!" the idea of the feast came up to him then suggested,

"Would you like to come?"

George stared blankly at Hatz, then asked, "... Can I go?" The tone was with a touch of doubt and hesitation since he does not belong to the village.

"Of course, you can! Even if the others don't know who you are, you are still welcome!" Hatz answered it happily.

George froze slightly for a few seconds then smiled and said, "Then, I accept your offer"

The two walked calmly through the forest, they talked a lot along the way, but to be exact, Hatz was mostly the one rambling, as for George, his words were few, and instead nodded in response to Hatz's conversation.

Later, Hatz slowly walked to a huge tree covered with snow, it wasn't like any other big tree. This tree has white leaves sprouting, it looked glittery and magical just like in fairy tale books. He kept staring at the amazing sight with eyes full of curiosity and asked, "Is it some kind of sacred tree? It is so big!"

"A tree like this gives off elemental energy, don't you feel it?" George answered facing Hatz,

"Well," Hatz put down the strawberry basket, then raised both hands to his chest level. Small light particles began to gather around Hatz,

"Only a tree that has survived for three hundred years can release these neutral particles, and if someone comes near it, it changes its element depending on what kind of attribute they are and absorbs the trees' natural mana. I guess the light attribute is still recognizable for this tree." George explained while looking at the tree and then at Hatz smiling.

"Really?" Hatz's attitude and tone changed, and he seemed to act curious about it. He still looked at the tree to avoid eye contact with George and has become more suspicious of him because of his knowledge about light attributes.

Hatz thought, This ... is the first time I've come across a tree like this, how does George know all this and how did he find this place so easily? Perhaps he led me here without my knowledge, while I was suspecting him of being a spirit? He is even familiar with the light attribute, and Hatz has confirmed his suspicions.

…..No doubt, he is a spirit. Concluded but did not say it out loud. He then decided to ask him directly to come out clean,

....

"Uh, George are you-" Hatz was not finished talking, then both boys suddenly heard a crunch. Ironically, he decided to keep his mouth shut and thought, Spirits have been trying to stay silent since the Golden Age, maybe this isn't the right time.

? The crunch sound was from a branch on the floor, "Could it be down there?" He quickly looked to the ground and realized that it was at George's feet.

George found Hatz's expression looking confused and asked "Hey, what's wrong--" After George stepped on another tree branch, it made him lose his balance for a moment then stepped on a trap. He suddenly felt lightweight from his footing because there was no more land to step on.

With the several sounds of leaves rustling, he fell.

"George!" Hatz shouted, grabbing George's arm just in time as he was about to fall into a deep pit.

"Hatz!"

"Hold on!" Trying to pull George's hand up.

But the living vines underground suddenly began to wrap around George's legs, which made it even harder for Hatz to pull him up.

"Why ...are you getting heavier ... "Struggling to pull George back,

"Well, I'm sorry," Funnily, George felt sorry too, "but you should let go! You might get dragged down with me!" The vines began to tighten and wrap around George's legs, not letting them go.

"No! I won't ... Leave my friend behind Ugh!" As Hatz's hand began to tremble, his face was growing redder, and it was clear that there was a big gap in strength between the living vines and him.

George's eyes widened like something had opened up a part of him when he heard Hatz call him a friend and thought, I hope you're not lying.

He smiled down, not wanting Hatz to see it.

Then he looked at Hatz and said, "I'll be fine, just wait for me, okay?"

"Tsk!" Hatz didn't have the strength to continue struggling any longer and decided to grab George's hand and fall into the hole together.

There was a loud thud on the ground, and luckily the hole wasn't very deep. Though, a scratch might be possible.

"Well, it's a little too late for that, hahaha!" Hatz's laugh made it sound like he was making fun of George.

"You-...ugh." George stood up, because he had nothing to say, and then cleaned himself out of the leaves on his shirt with a pat of his hand.

"Well, it's very brightly lit for a cave." Hatz stood up and then looked around. His voice echoed a little since the cave was a little bit big. No one seemed to live there, especially under a sacred tree.

Hollow noises began to sound in both boys' ears as if they were in a plane and the air had blocked their ears, hurting and struggling to hear. But decent enough, they weren't affected by this noise at all and kept on walking.

Approximately, the cave was large enough to hold even a hundred creatures in it, and the sides were mostly covered with living vines so they moved around but wouldn't hurt anyone. It's just that they like pulling people's feet.

Small creatures such as insects were moving around freely as if this was their home.

Hatz and George began to walk deeper into the cave as they groped from the walls.

"Where does this cave lead to?" George asked with an innocent tone and looked as his voice echoed throughout the setting.

As they continued walking, an eerie air was starting to spread around, getting thicker and thicker.

"..." Hatz's facial expression became worried, there is a sense of foreboding, feeling that something bad will happen, "let's keep walking," said George,

Despite this, Hatz remained calm and continued to walk forward.

Later, as they went deeper, they noticed that the cave was getting bigger and the temperature was climbing unexpectedly. How could it be so high in such cold weather?

Hatz noticed that something was very wrong, and it had been strange since the cave had gotten bigger.

"I have a bad feeling about this George, we have to hurry!" Hatz said this with a bit of panic and confusion on his face.

George nodded and then sprinted ahead together with Hatz leading the way and finally, they saw the exit, but as they walked out of the cave….

"What ...." George, shocked at what he saw before him, but Hatz was hit by this scene bigger and harder than him.

"...." Hatz, with a painful look, was speechless like he was in shock, his eyes widened and his mouth opened, he didn't know if this was reality, he still could not catch up with the current situation, but even though he thought so, he still hoped it was a dream because what George and he saw was Hatz's entire village being invaded, burned and attacked.

"AHHH!" shouted the voice that swarmed over the endless flames.

"HOW DID THEY KNOW WE WERE HERE!?" Panic, people were surprised and scared.

"HELP!" Helpless, they were too frightened to even stand up.

"ATTACK! LET'S FIGHT TOGETHER! PROTECT OUR VILLAGE!" This was their will, even in the face of death, they swore to protect their homes.

"MOM!" The children were shouting and the parents were doing their best to protect their children

"Run, my child! Don't worry, we will meet up with you soon!!" A dark claw was already behind them, "AHHH IT'S HERE!" with just one slash, both of their bodies were already in parts and pieces. How ironic it is to struggle to survive when death was the easiest thing to end with.

But death is inevitable to begin with because their fate and path have already been decided by the so-called dark horse of the society of creatures, also known as the "Shadows". _____________________________________________________________________________________

End Of Prologue….