Chapter 7 Caretaker of The Two Foxes

It has been 3 years since I began to live inside the beast men zone of the Forest of Calamity and a lot has happened. The most notable thing is that I have finally mastered the use of channeling mana even when I sleep. I was also able to expand my cave a little bit in the main area and create a side area to store food. I also created many different sizes of pots and pans. I created a bed to sleep in and a desk to dismantle at. I even created a waterwheel even though I had nothing for it to power.

I also realized something important that basically made channeling useless. That realization was that magic circles didn't deteriorate. It was the mana inside the item used to create the magic circle that deteriorated. It was just like how a caster uses mana to make spells. It's just that items can't get mana back which makes magic circles unable for long time use. Now if only there was a place that mana is abundant and naturally flows through many items. Oh wait there is a perfect place called the demonic forest and the wood from their trees also has a lot of mana stored inside of it.

So of course I created a magic circle from some wood. I made it so it used the dark element to scare any who enter its range. Since I still had to enter I made sure that there was a way for me not to trigger it. In the end I made it so that you wouldn't be affected if you had no evil intentions. It was very hard to set up this though and I was only able to get it working properly after 2 years. Also from discovery I created a spell that drained mana. The spell goes, O spell of wind gather in my hand to drain the mana of my opponent. The only downside to this spell is that I need to touch the opponent or else the spell will fail, and I couldn't figure out how to turn it into a projectile.

However that wasn't that bad. That is because this spell has already helped me greatly in hunting demonic beasts. That is because without mana a demonic beast loses their tough outer layer. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize, but demonic beasts subconsciously surround themselves with mana. Once that is gone they lose a huge chunk of their defense which allows me to kill them easily. I am now able to effectively hunt demonic beasts in the human zone without my hiding spell. This is only for the demonic beasts in the outer edges though. With the hiding spell though I am able to hunt demonic beasts in the outer edges of the beastmen zone, yet I can't go farther than that. However this still allows me to get food easier as I don't have to travel as far.

I haven't really had any trouble with food since then, but man was the first winter hard. I barely had enough food to get me by. Since then I have been collecting food more proactively before winter to not repeat the same mistake. I also collected things other than meat like edible plants. I at first didn't know which ones were edible or which one were poisonous. That problem was solved by the demonic beast though. I would just go in stealth and observe what they ate. If they ate a certain plant then I should be able to eat it as well. This has given me access to many different flavors. Of course I only observed those in the human zone as I feel like those in the beastmen zone will notice me if I stick around too long. I'm honestly surprised that I was even able to make it here 3 years ago.

There is one huge benefit I have gotten over these years and that is the increase in my mana and it's quality. By eating foods rich with mana some of that mana would be absorbed into my body. My mana quality has also improved and is similar in quality to mana from the human zone. And 3 years of constant improvement has really shown a difference. First since the amount of mana has increased the amount of spells I can use has also increased. Inside the forest though this isn't as important as none of my spells can even come close to emptying my mana pool.

It is the increase in quality that has greatly benefited me. The increase in my mana's quality increases the effects of my spell. For example my spell sword has almost doubled in size from when I first used the spell. It has also become much sharper and faster when I swing it. Similar effects happen with my other spells due to the increase in mana quality, yet my hiding spell still isn't strong enough to hide fully from the demonic beasts.

Anyways, I had just finished gathering the edible plants I wanted so it was time to head back to my house. I got to my house and then went to the new storage area to store these plants for the winter coming in a couple of months. When I got to the storage area though I saw that my stockpile of food had decreased by half from when I last checked. I then saw two foxes hiding in a corner trying to look as small as possible even though they were a similar size to me. Looking at them I saw that there were many wounds on them. It was harder to tell on the one with the orange red fur, but the dried blood really stood out on the whitish blue fox.

"Did you eat my food?" I asked not really expecting an answer.

I wasn't able to finish my question before mana began converging onto the two foxes. That mana was then processed by them and turned into the fire element for the orange red fox and the water element for the whitish blue fox. However I realized that both of them weren't in control of their spell. I could tell that they were losing control of their mana and would face a horrible backlash if this continued. Without thinking I decided to chant my spell to drain their mana. I had never drained mana from one who is actually channeling purposefully so I didn't know what would happen. It was a gamble of whether I could control their mana or not.

"O spell of wind gather in my hand to drain the mana of my opponent." "O spell of wind gather in my hand to drain the mana of my opponent."

I chanted it twice so I could help both of them at the same time. I then placed my right hand on the fox with orange red fur and my left on the fox with whitish blue fur. Almost instantly their mana started flowing into me and I was shocked. These foxes had an insane amount of mana and it had amazing quality. Better quality than what could be provided from the beastmen zone. Because of its quality and amount I wasn't able to control it. It just kept flowing through me. The right side of my body was under an immense heat while the left side of my body was under an immense cold.

I wasn't even able to think straight from the constant pain felt on both sides. Even though this was the worst pain I have felt, my body instinctively channeled mana. This had become second nature to me and just happened. As I channeled my mana the wind element rose and began to circulate the fire and water elements. This brought a soothing cool feeling to my burning hand and a gentle warm feeling to my cold hand. However my quality of mana wasn't enough to properly circulate the fire and water elements. So while I was given temporary respite it didn't last for long.

If I wished to survive this then I had two options. The first is to stop draining the foxes mana and probably let them die. The second is to improve my own mana quality to be able to compete with theirs. I wasn't just going to abandon them so I stopped circulating my mana. I then began bashing my mana against theirs. My hope was to merge my mana with theirs to increase its quality. When I did that though my mana just got swallowed up by theirs. I couldn't really think of any other options so I continued to do that. I didn't know how much time passed, but I felt my mana change. I couldn't really describe it, but it felt like my affinities had changed, like I had gotten more. It also felt like I had formed a connection with the foxes.

The pain I felt from both sides also lessened significantly and the best part was I was able to circulate my mana smoothly. Even with the excess mana coming from the foxes it circulated smoothly through my body. And so I began draining their mana with more vigor as it didn't hurt anymore. It kind of felt like their mana was my mana and my mana was their mana. I don't know it just felt like if they wanted to they could control my mana, but they just didn't know how to or something. Either way I continued to circulate the mana, and instead of just flowing through my body I also circulated it through their bodies as well. I also dissipated the excess mana into the atmosphere to stop the backlash they could face.

Finally once all the excess, berserk mana was gone I let go. Even though I was used to using spells I couldn't say the same for forcibly controlling another's mana. Doubly so for when their mana is better than mine in every way possible. I even had to keep up my spell in order to make sure I could do that. I was mentally tired and wanted to rest. Wait, why do I still feel connected to them if the spell is already disabled? No, put questions aside and get some sleep.

"Answers will come in the morning," I mumbled as I lost consciousness.

While asleep I keep hearing voices of concern. The voices however don't seem to be heard though. It is like they are coming directly into my mind. I am also feeling another's worries and anxiety. I'll also feel something licking my face. The licking starts to get more intense and another tongue seems to join in.

"Enough." I say as I try to push the tongues away from me.

I am able to succeed, but they come back once my hands are away. I try to get up, but I can't. I feel two weights on my chest that's stopping my movements. My hand heads towards the weight and I feel a soft fur. I begin to stroke the fur and the tongues stop licking me. I finally open my eyes and see the two foxes are on top of me.

"Well at least I was able to help you two." I say.

"Yes thank you for that." The orange red fox says.

"Your welc… wait a second did you just talk."

"Of course. Both me and my sister can talk."

"Yes thank you for helping us control our elements." The whitish blue fox says.

"Okay explanations. I need someone to explain this to me."

"Yes, my name is Astra, and I am part of the fire fox race." The orange red fox said.

"My name is Ana, and I am part of the water fox race." The whitish blue fox said.

"We were kicked out of our rainbow fox clan because we are not rainbow foxes." Astra said.

"We can also easily lose control of our elements as you saw which is another reason we were kicked out." Ana supplemented.

"After being kicked out of the clan we tried our best to survive, but the demonic beasts were so hard to fight." Astra said.

"Our claws and fangs couldn't get through their skin." Ana said.

"So we tried to run away and get food through edible plants." Astra said.

"However the demonic beasts were persistent and we couldn't correctly identify which plants were edible." Astra continued.

We were then on the brink of exhaustion and at our limits when we came here," Astra said.

"Yes the demonic beasts didn't even come close to here, and we smelled cooked meat," Ana said.

"We didn't see anyone and we were hungry so we took some of your food." Astra said.

"Then when you came back we got scared and used our elements." Astra continued.

"Then well you know the rest." Ana finished.

"Well I guess it is my turn now," I say.

"My name is Sylvain and I am a half elf. I used to live with humans and my parents, but the humans found out I was a half elf. My mother decided to take us to an elven village while the humans were cooling down. However some in the elven village wanted me dead so I was chased out. I was followed, but was luckily able to get away from my pursuers. I then decided to head to the Forest of Calamity to live with the demonic beasts. I've been here for 3 years, and that's about it for my story. So now what are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?" Ana asks.

"You guys can't live here since you don't have any experience in combat."

"We have been painfully made aware of that." Astra replies.

"As such I could give you a place of shelter for when you need to escape while you slowly hunt some demonic beasts to gain experience. I will also be able to help you control your elements if you lose control of them again. Finally I will be able to provide you with some food. Of course it is only going to be enough for you to get by since I also need food."

"That seems like a great deal Sylvain." Ana says.

"Wait Ana, don't accept just yet," Astra says, "there is nothing in this exchange for him. In fact he is on the losing end of this bargain."

"I don't think so. In fact I think it is quite the opposite."

"Well then can you please explain?" Astra asks.

"Well the only things you guys lack is combat experience and proper control. If you learn this you will without a shadow of a doubt grow stronger. So think of this as an investment. I'll help you now and you'll help me in the future. Probably it will be simple things like helping me get food."

"Okay so you want us to help you in the future, but that's not all is it?" Astra asks.

"Well yes, but the other two reasons are kinda personal. I could tell you if you really want me to."

"Yes please I would like to know what you really want." Astra says.

"Okay there are two personal reasons then. The first, is just like you, I was abandoned by my people. I would want to help you guys so you don't have to go through the same amount of pain I did. The second is, I'm kinda lonely. Staying in this forest with no one to talk to gets boring, so I would like to have some company."

"Okay one last thing," Astra said, "how can we trust you?"

"That's something that you have to figure out by yourselves. The only thing I can say is stay with me for a couple of days and judge for yourselves if I am trustworthy or not. However I am not too sure if you guys can even survive a couple of days without my help."

"Sister he is right," Ana says, "we wouldn't be able to survive on our own. I think we should take him up on his offer. He would also be able to help us control our elements. We won't have to worry about losing control then."

"Ugh fine," Astra says, "we will trust you for now so please take care of us."