Chapter 112 -- I need to go home

In a peaceful clearing was a family of deer, which were grazing with no care in the world. Even though it was publicly known that the clearing was a hunting hotspot, the deer either didn't get the memo, or didn't care.

From a nearby bush, a sound was heard. It sounded like something was hiding, waiting for the right moment to strike at the defenseless animals.

Not being a greenhorn when it came to such situations, a deer bigger than the rest signaled for the rest to move away from the bush as quickly as possible.

The deer all knew to trust the bigger deer's instinct, as it had never been wrong, and so the herd moved to the other side of the clearing, of course they didn't stop eating though. The grass seemed to be especially succulent that morning.

The bigger deer kept it's eyes on the bush and soon enough, a figure appeared from it. The figure was a wild boar, which was feasting on the mushrooms growing under the protection of the bush.

Seeing that there was no danger, the bigger deer joined the rest of the heard in their breakfast.

SHING!!

Before the bigger deer could even chew it's first bite, an arrow landed a few centimeters from its head. Digging a good five inches into the hard earth.

Releasing a loud wail, the deer took off running in the direction opposite to the rest of the heard. The scream might have, to a human, sounded like a random cry, however it was actually precise instructions for the heard.

The bigger deer swerved through the trees with surprising precision, it was clear to see that this wasn't it's first rodeo.

However, unknown to the deer the humans hunting it this time weren't the average hunters it had learnt to escape from.

Two figures jumped from tree branch to tree branch, chasing after the fleeing prey. One of the figures was a tall muscular man with long black hair.

The other figure was much smaller, with white hair and clothes of the same color. The two men jumped through the trees extremely quickly, their feet not stopping on a branch for even a second.

The younger of the two men jumped in the air and drew an arrow before letting it fly towards the deer. However, by a stroke of pure luck, the deer turned at the last moment and the arrow peirced a tree instead.

"Only shoot if you have a clear shot son, don't waste arrows." the older man said.

"Yes father" the young man nodded.

The two men followed the deer for a few more minutes before prey and hunters appeared in another clearing. It was at this moment that an arrow found it's way to the deers rear leg.

The deer quickly fell, but tried it's best to stand up and escape, to no avail.

"Take it out of its misery" The older man said.

The young man pulled his bow and without hesitation finished off the animal with an arrow through the eye.

"Nice work" the older man said, ruffling the young man's head.

"Thanks father, but i missed two times" the young man answered with a sigh.

"You're still learning Zane, at a fast rate if i may add" Owen smiled and threw the large deer over his shoulder.

Zane didn't know what to say so he resorted to just nodding.

"Let's get back home, your mother will get worried it's getting late" Owen said.

Zane nodded and the duo walked back to their farm, with Owen giving Zane more tips about using the bow.

The sun was beginning to hide behind the mountains, giving the forest an orange glow. Zane couldn't help but look around, appreciating the beauty of nature.

'Something's wrong' he thought.

However, no matter how hard he tried to figure it out, he couldn't. It was a strange feeling for Zane. Feeling that something was wrong while knowing that everything was still the same as it was yesterday, and the day before that.

It didn't take long for the duo to catch sight of their village in the distance. Even though it didn't have many inhabitants, Nok was a very busy village, being one of only five villages tasked with supplying grain to Willow city.

Father and son soon arrived at their farm to find Olivia tending to her garden.

"Can you just leave that garden of yours and welcome your husband home?" Owen said with a smile and his arms outstretched.

"Well unfortunately, my husband doesn't grow tomatoes out of his body. Or does he...?" Olivia chuckled, not taking her eyes away from the large red tomatoes thriving under her care.

"Well too bad you don't have cucumbers on your garden, and i do on my garden" Owen smirked.

"You call that a cucumber?" Olivia laughed "That thing couldn't pass for a baby carrot"

"Mother!!" Zane screamed as he speed walked to the house, he had a feeling that his parent's conversation was no longer about gardens.

Putting his hand on the door it suddenly turned white and Zane's clothes turned into a luxurious suit.

"Honey I'm home!!" Zane said as he put his briefcase on the kitchen counter.

"Welcome home Zane" a voice said from the walls.

Zane chuckled "Thanks Alexis but you do know I was talking to my wife right?" Zane said.

"Of course sir, and she will appear through the door in 3...2...1..."

"Hey babe, how was work" Linda said as she appeared through the door.

"It was fine, just the Joneses are giving me problems" Zane replied.

"They still haven't agreed to the offer?" Linda took off her husband's blazer.

"Yeah they want fifty more million on top of the original amount" Zane explained.

Linda scoffed "They're crazy if they think their company is worth that much"

"They are just being unreasonable, they know very well that they don't have the manpower nor the funds to continue that project" Zane sighed.

"So let's call their bluff" Linda suggested.

"What if they terminate the deal for good?" Zane worried.

"Then we forget about them, we aren't that desperate for this deal babe" Linda smiled.

"Fine"

"Come on i cooked dinner" Linda led Zane to the kitchen.

"You mean Alexis cooked dinner" Zane mocked.

"No I cooked!!" Linda exclaimed "Alexis might have gave me the recipe but i did the cooking" she defended.

"I also gave her step by step instructions" Alexis chimed in.

"Alexis who's side are you on!?" Linda shouted.

"My maker's side" Alexis didn't even hesitate.

An evil smile appeared on Linda's face "Just wait until we're alone" she said. Zane was expecting Alexis to talk back, but she was silent for a few seconds before...

"Linda did most of the cooking, i just looked up the recipe online" she said and Zane couldn't help but chuckle. Only his wife could threaten a computer programm into submission.

"Come sit down" Linda pointed at the chair after smirking towards one of the cameras in the room. Zane sat down and Linda dished up the food.

"Fuck!" Linda exclaimed, she had accidentally pricked herself with a fork, it was barely a flesh wound drawing minimal blood.

"Come here, let me see" Zane called. Linda went to her husband, who proceeded to gently take her hand.

"Huh that's weird" Zane mumbled.

"What's wrong?" Linda asked.

"I can't move my mana, in fact i can't feel any mana at all in my body" Zane exclaimed, shock evident on his face.

"Alexis scan Zane's body is there something wro....." That's when Zane's vision blacked out, he could feel his body but he couldn't see anything.

Feeling around, he discovered he was lying on a bed. "Ohh you're awake" a voice said. Zane quickly blew mana into the room, to see a middle aged woman looking down at him with a warm smile

"I need to go home!" Zane blurted out.