The Old Ruins

"RUN!" The young man shouted out to his friend, running as fast aspossible while desperately searching for the exit.

The old underground bunker had been there for centuries, making it a great exploration site for ancient relics. Or so they thought.

"I told you Petter! You never listen, and look at us now!" The other boy shouted back, matching the speed of his friend.

ROOOAAAAARRRR!!

Their ears hurt as some creature unleashed a powerful sound from behind them. Its fur was pitch black, claws and fangs sharper than daggers, glowing red eyes, hungry for blood. Truly a dangerous monster.

"Here! Crawl in here!" One of the boys said right after finding a decent size hole in one of the walls, big enough for them to go through and yet much smaller than the creature.

The monster ran as fast as it could in hopes of getting something to feast on, but fortunately, both of them managed to crawl through the hole leading to the other side of the wall.

"Well, we're still alive and well... Nothing to worry about, Nolan."

"Shut up you idiot. I warned you several times that there were sights of a Night Bear around this parts, and you still wanted to explore!" Nolan exploded back at Petter after a very close life or death situation.

"Don't be mad... It was a nice experience! We got to see it after all! Now, let's see what's left in this ruins and go back to the village."

The Night Bear acknowledged its defeat and left the ruins, giving Nolan and Petter some time to search the newly found room without worry.

After a few minutes they realized there was nothing worth noticing in that place and decided to return to the other side of the wall, where they almost died.

Petter being the bravest of them both started crawling through the hole and put his head out to make sure the beast had gone away for good. After a careful and fearful look, he decided it was the perfect time to leave the ruins before the beast could return and rush after them again.

"Come! It's now or never." He told Nolan, signaling him to follow.

Nolan complied and both headed for the entrance of the old bunker, praying the Night Bear is far enough for them to return to the village safely.

After ten long minutes of walking as silently as possible, they reached the stairs that served as the entrance to the bunker, which led to a hidden trapdoor within a forest.

"Wait a minute... there's no way that huge monster used the stairs to get in here just like we did... right?" Petter questioned, thinking about the current situation.

"Of course not you idiot, surely there's some other way to get in here. Can we just get out please? This place gives me chills.."

"Let's hurry then... Everyone is probably mad at us"

"Yes, I wonder whose fault that is."

While arguing, the boys climbed the stairs and finally left the ruins. Right after exiting, the greenish view flooded their eyes. It was a rich forest with great soil, which means trees and plants grow easily here, attracting animals, and sometimes large beasts as well. They could feel the cold breeze, typical of the region they lived in, a small village located in the far east of the Heodal Kingdom.

The forest Petter and Nolan were currently in served as a natural border to the neighbor kingdom, and it is the one of the main food gathering sites for their village. A few days ago they came across the bunker's trapdoor whilst one of their hunts and decided to explore it after making sure no one else was in the forest at the same time.

"Oh no... Look at the sun, it's almost noon... We need to catch something fast or we'll get a beating for sure." Nolan warned Petter, reminding him of the reason they came to the forest in the first place.

"I saw a few Horned Squirrels on the way here, guess we can get a few."

"Squirrels again?! Do you not get tired of eating that like, five days a week?"

"Oh please, they're delicious! Unless you want to go kill that Night Bear back in the ruins and take a few chunks of meat to see how it tastes... I'd be up for that."

".... Let's get the squirrels."

Nolan gave up on reasoning with Petter, realizing his stupidity.

Not long after they began searching, a few Horned Squirrels could be seen climbing a nearby tree. The boys spotted them and hid in a nearby bush so they didn't scare off the squirrels.

Unlike normal squirrels, the horned variation, just as the name suggests, has two small horns on its head. They are bigger, faster, and much more aggressive, being able to injure a person if not careful enough.

"How will you kill them? We didn't bring any bow with us today..." Nolan questioned, realizing they have no means of killing the small beasts.

"Hmmm, I can try using magic, even though I really shouldn't..." Petter suggested.

"Absolutely not. I'm not carrying you back again just because you can't control your mana levels."

"Trust me, this time, I know I can do it."

".... Just once, if you miss, we'll hunt something else."

"Very well."

Petter closed his eyes and pointed his open hands in the direction of the squirrels. His favorite type of magic is fire magic, but since he cannot control it properly, any kind of fire spell would most likely completely burn the animals to ash and leave nothing for them to eat. And so, he chose wind magic instead, the type he has the most affinity for.

Concentrating as hard as he could, the boy cast the spell, hoping not to hit anything else besides the squirrels... like last time.

"Wind Slash!" He shouted, and a strong wind blade shot from his hands at an extreme speed.

The squirrels that were in the way of it had no chance of evading and got cut in half, along with the tree they were climbing.

"Oops.."

"Well... you did get them this time. Glad you finally didn't hit a person."

"Haha, thanks!"

"Let's check out the great damage your mighty powerful spell did..."

They walked up to the now fallen tree and inspected the dead squirrels. There were three bodies, all of them in great condition, even though they were cut in two halves.

"This will do for today, we can always come back for more if we need to." Nolan said, acknowledging the good size of the squirrels.

He placed them in a leather pouch hanging on his waist and the boys finally headed back to the village.

~~~~~~~~~~

In the village, a worried woman was preparing lunch for her family, except there was one person missing, who should have returned some time ago. The door opened and her husband came in, returning home after a long night and morning patrol. He had his chain mail armor on, and was still carrying his sword.

"Katyl, I'm home!" He announced while taking his armor off and leaving it on the ground next to the entrance, along with the sword.

"Paul? Have you seen Nolan? He went with the smith's kid to the forest again and they haven't returned yet."

"Oh no... That's not good... I took longer than usual because we've been tracking a Night Bear. We should hurry, its tracks were near the forest our son usually hunts, I'll go and look for them right away!"

As the man turned to get his weapon, the door suddenly opened and revealed a tired looking boy, his dark brown hair was messy and his face had a few dirty spots.

"Oh, hey dad! Didn't know you'd be home by now." Nolan happily greeted his father.

"What took you so long!" His mother shouted, mad at him for being late.

"Petter wanted to explore some ruins he found in the forest... so we went in there, and a Night Bear showed up!"

"I can't believe this." Katyl was shocked at her son's words. Night Bears are uncommon in the current region, and very dangerous compared to most other beasts in the area.

"Where is Petter right now?" His father asked with a serious face.

"He went to the smithy, pretty sure his father is mad at him for being so late. Oh! That's right, here mom, we got a few squirrels."

Nolan gave his mother the leather pouch and she placed it on the counter, quickly turning to face him again.

"A Night Bear you say?!"

"That 's right..."

Silence reigned for a few seconds, until Paul finished gathering his thoughts.

"Nolan, after we finish having lunch you're coming with me. We'll go get Petter as well and assemble a hunting group to take that beast down."

His words took his wife by surprise, making her mad at his decision.

"What!? Have you lost your mind? Don't be reckless Paul, if something happens to him I swea-"

"Don't worry. He'll be fine." Katyl was cut off by her husband, assuring her that their son would be ok.

"Besides, he is sixteen now, it's about time for him to become a proper hunter."

"Uhhh, whatever you say, just please make sure to give him some proper equipment."

"Of course."

After calming down a bit, the family enjoyed lunch and discussed some rules for Nolan's involvement on the hunt for the Night Bear.

"Ahhh. I'm satisfied." Nolan said after finishing all the food that was on his plate, before continuing: "So, to sum it up, rule number one - no close range fighting with the beast, but I'm allowed to use supportive spells or some long distanced attack ones, rule number two - in case someone gets killed and the hunt group starts splitting up, I shall immediately run away from the forest, and finally rule number three - always obey to father's orders. Is that good enough mom?"

"Yes, if you promise me to not do anything else then you can go."

"Very well, I promise!"

Paul nodded in approval of his son's participation, happy to finally have his own son fight with him.

Nolan then looked at him and spoke out:

"Oh, dad, I forgot to ask. Why are they called Night Bears anyway? Not like they are more powerful at night, they just sleep like everything else right?"

"There's actually a small story behind that name, I'll tell you it on the way to the smithy. Come, we should hurry."

They both get up from the dining table and head to the exit.

"Get some meat for dinner while you're at it, we kinda ate everything we had just now..." Katyl said, still eating her portion of the food.

"Will do! See you later mom!"

They leave the house and start walking to the smithy, to find Petter and tell him about the hunt.

"Before anything, have you said hello to your little girlfriend at the church today? What was her name? Lucy? Licia? We'll probably spend the whole day in the forest so I'd go there now if I was you."

Nolan blushed a little and responded:

"Her name is Luzia, and she's not my girlfriend! And... I don't want to bother her while she's praying like last time... she got mad."

"Haha, I see. So, you said you guys found some ruins? In all these years I have never seen anything like that in the forest.

Paul asked, curious about where exactly his son went.

"That's right, Petter found a hidden trapdoor behind a set of trees, it was covered in leaves and all that so it wasn't visible, until he tripped and fell on it, making a metallic sound... That's how he found the entrance. Nothing special in there though, other than the bear of course."

"An underground ruin with a Night Bear in it... Mhmm."

Nolan wondered what his father was thinking, but remembered he still hasn't told him the story behind the name.

"And why exactly are they called Night Bears after all?"

"Oh, that's right! So, when humans first came to this continent thousands of years ago, there was little knowledge of what kind of beasts there were. One day, some guy was picking some berries to eat when he came across some of the bears. He ran back to his group but the beasts were really powerful and obliterated all of them except for that guy. Apparently he was found in a small cave by another group, and told them about the beasts. It seems that after that, the man had nightmares about the event almost every night, he then went to the healer to try and fix it but they couldn't do anything about it. Since he wouldn't shut up about his nightmares of the bears, people started naming them Night Bears since the words are similar!"

"I see... That's quite the story..."

Nolan couldn't decide if he was disappointed or impressed.

Paul laughed at his son's confused face. Moments like this were rare nowadays since he had to patrol most of the time, so he was enjoying his time with his son a lot.

"There's another story I want to tell you, but I'll leave this one for when we finish the hunt."

"What? Are you going to tell me why Horned Squirrels have that name?"

"Hahaha, no it is nothing like that. It is a serious story this time, and I think you should look forward to it, even though there's no happy ending."

"If you say so..."

They walk awkwardly in silence for a while until Paul asked:

"Now then, what magic type do you have an easier time with again? It has been so long I can barely remember you using magic."

"I have the most affinity to water magic but the one I use the most is wind."

"I see. Can you fly?"

"Come on dad, I'm not some super powerful mage with decades of experience, although I can't say I haven't tried..."

"I believe you can get to that level one day, don't give up!"

"Thanks.."

While they were busy talking, they reached the smithy after a few minutes of walking. Here all sorts of weapons and armor could be found, and since the blacksmith was Petter's father, Nolan has always been able to play around with a few swords and daggers without having to pay, even though his weapon of choice is a bow.

"Hey Zlodey!" Paul greeted the blacksmith, which happened to also be a childhood friend of his.

"Look who it is, what took you so long!"

"Huh? Were you expecting me?"

"Indeed I was. My son told me about his recent adventure in the forest so I assumed yours would tell you about it as well. So? Will we go after it?"

"Yes, we can't let that beast roaming around the forest so close to the village."

"Agreed. Hey Nolan, Petter is in the back, you can go to him. There's something I made just for you, go ask him about it."

Nolan was surprised and happy about the blacksmith's words.

"Really? Thanks!"

He went to the back room of the smithy which is strictly used by the owner and his family. Upon opening the door, he noticed Petter, who was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and eyes closed. A small gust of wind was surrounding him, making his greenish hair levitate a bit.

Is he meditating? Never thought he'd actually do this... Well, I'll have to interrupt.

Nolan knocked on the door, causing Petter to get startled.

"What are you doing here!?"

"Your father told me to come, said he made something for me. And were just you meditating!? Someone's finally growing up!"

"Shut up, you know I need to control my magic better."

Petter got up and opened to some sort of chest that was next to him.

"Here, this is for you."

The boy grabbed a newly crafted bow from the chest and handed it to his friend.

"Wow! So this is what it was."

"What do you think? Apparently it has a rune fused to it, I don't really know the details though, you'll have to ask my father about it."

"A rune!? Aren't enhanced weapons super expensive!? I'll never be able to pay it back!"

"It's a gift you moron, no need to pay."

Nolan spent a good five minutes inspecting the bow and posing with it. He then noticed something.

"Wait a minute, is it really fine for your dad to give me this while you're still using a normal bow?"

"You really think you're special eh? Don't worry, I have a new one too."

"I see."

Meanwhile at the entrance of the smithy, Paul and Zlodey were talking about their plan for the hunt.

"How many men will we bring?" Zlodey asked in a serious tone.

"There's no need to bring a lot, it's just a Night Bear, not like we're going to kill some dragon. Even still, I'm worried about the fact that the kids saw it inside those uncharted ruins, so we don't really know what else is in there, we must be careful. I'll go to the guild center now and talk to the master, I'll make him aware of the situation."

"Very well, while you're at it I'll give the kids some decent equipment. Well, you do let Nolan come with us right?"

"Yes, he'll come. I'll hurry now, see you soon."

"Good luck."

Paul left the smithy at a fast pace and headed to the guild center of the village. Getting there, he noticed a group of heavily armored soldiers with the royal crest on their chest plate leaving the building.

Royal knights? What are they doing here? I don't remember hearing anything about this... Perhaps some yearly guild center performance check? I'll have to ask the guild master about it.

END OF CHAPTER 1