005 | Hooded Visitor

I woke the next day when a leaf fell on my nose. I immediately sat up once contact between the leaf and my skin connected. I had never slept so soundly before, there wasn't a day that I slept without having my guard up. You could never know when an enemy appears.

I sat upon a wet grass field right next to a dense forest. The sun was high in the sky, I would probably predict it was somewhere around 10 AM. A child my size should get an abundance of sleep after using magic, but I made sure to get up a bit earlier to explore my surroundings.

"Whatever reason that I got abandoned, I shouldn't go back to where I came from, or else a crueler fate might meet me."

The sounds of water flowing rapidly behind me were calming in my opinion. Notwithstanding the chaos of the sounds of water crashing down below the waterfall.

My stomach growled.

"Are you serious?"

In my past life, I was able to survive without eating or drinking for a full year. I was able to do that with a variety of continuously active spells that were placed upon my body. Due to their low mana consumption, my mastery of mana recovery and circulation, I was able to run an abundance of spells all the time without worrying about it consuming mana. Even without support from magical spells, I had trained my physical body to its limits allowing me to thrive for a month at best.

Woefully, my body is that of a mere child's. Even if I could cast a few spells, it would be far more efficient to gather food than to waste energy to delay the inevitable. In short, I needed to eat. Regardless of how long I could survive without food, as a growing boy, I need to supply my body with nutrients to allow it to grow to its full potential. Hopefully, as a noble's child, there won't be any physical or mental disabilities.

"It's time to hunt."

I first took off my clothes and wrung them dry near the lake. As I was there, the water was actually fairly clean. I can craft a filter later with some materials that can easily be collected in the wild. Even if it looks clean, I would rather be on the safe side. After all, this river starts flowing from the direction of the kingdom I was abandoned from, who knows what pollution could be in here.

"For all I know, someone could have urinated in this water."

I put my clothes back on, which I surprisingly struggled a bit with. I'm not too familiar with my body just yet. After pulling up my pants, I figured I'd take this body for a test drive. I played around with the grass that was between my toes. I came to a realization that this body was probably vulnerable to infection or bacteria.

"I'll use a light physical enhancement spell to protect my body from cuts."

I used a simple spell that made practical use of mana inside my body. It simply concentrates a small amount of mana inside my body and pushes it outside, forming an extremely thin and invisible layer of coating over the epidermis.

"This should suffice."

I walked slowly before transitioning to a full sprint into the forest. I looked up at the tall trees. If I was a naive kid, I would have believed it if someone told me this was a rainforest. These trees are tall. As I ran through the forest, I felt the presence of many tiny critters that crawled within the forest. However, nothing suitable for me to call a meal. I was a predator looking for my prey.

I heard rustling up above and came to a full stop. I felt a small tingle on my right foot.

"Perhaps that was too strong of a sudden stop."

I examined my right foot and found a small scratch. Fortunately, it didn't penetrate the skin.

"Even if it did, this forest is particularly clean. Devoid of any sort of pollution. I doubt I'll contract any infection."

I lowered my head as I heard the leaves rustle. There was a pigeon there. Well, it looked like one. Sort of. It had dull gray feathers but near the ends of its body, the feathers started turning a light hue of green and yellow. It made me think that it was a weird hybrid between a pigeon and a penguin. It was also larger than the average birds in the Empire I encountered in my previous life. Another one landed beside it, this was the perfect chance to take down two birds with one stone.

"I have just enough mana to send one small strike of lightning. Though, not enough to kill the both of them."

I was recalling different types of spells I could use at this moment. Though my poorly managed mana circulation prevents me from using fourth fifths of most spells. Not because I didn't have enough mana, but simply because of how magic works in relation to the incomplete and immature body of a child. Especially one at the young age of four.

"Although, this should suffice."

I appeared right below the branch the two birds were perching on. I had a stone I just grabbed from the ground ready in my hand. I raised my left hand and I pushed down. A strong wind current broke the twig and pushed the birds down to the ground.

"Sorry. It's just the food chain."

I ended their lives quickly with sharp strikes of my rock. It's a decent weapon. I made sure that they died in one clean hit. The less they should suffer, the better. I picked up the two birds and headed deeper into the forest. I heard water splash somewhere and came over to a pond.

"I'll clean the birds here."

After plucking and cleaning the birds, they were ready to cook. I would have preferred some salt but I guess beggars can't be choosers. I gathered the materials required to make a small bonfire easily. While I was getting resources, I also got enough to make a water filter that incorporated rocks and sand. I disabled my light physical enhancement spell. I had already cut up the bird meat into separate pieces and put them through sharpened sticks. All that was left was to light the fire.

"Although, I am getting a bit thirsty. I suppose I should start filtering some water."

I found a small fallen tree trunk and used a rock to create a makeshift bowl. That would be where the filtered water would go to. I went to fetch the water and as soon as I turned around I heard a stomach growl behind me. I turned around to find a hooded figure eating my food.

"Hey!"

The hooded figure got startled and looked at me. I only noticed now that this boy was not human. It was some sort of beast humanoid. He had lengthy brown hair and a set of determined oak brown eyes. I saw a hairy brown tail that was sagging behind him. I looked at him up and down to see that he was dressed in extremely poor clothing.

"Don't take my food."

The boy obviously did not listen to what I said, he grabbed a stick of meat and ran off. Needless to say, I stopped him. He didn't go very far before I instantly caught up to him. I had sensed a presence beforehand and had cast a light physical enhancement spell. With one jump I was already right behind the boy. I grabbed his hood and yanked slightly. I didn't want to kill the very first person I met, just a gentle tug, and his current speed will be just enough for him to fall on his back.

Everything happened as I predicted. I stood over him and waited for him to open his eyes. I took notice of his fluffy brown ears.

"You. What are you?"

The boy refused to speak. Surprisingly, he leaped up immediately and performed a decent kick at my face. It didn't seem like he was very friendly. Though, he didn't exude any sort of bloodlust.

I dodged his kick, it was crystal clear to me that he was aiming for my face. The way he jumped up, the way his chest moved, his eyes looking at where he was targeting, and the slight shift and movement of his body gave it all away. I weaved his kick slightly. Part of me wanted to get him angry. I took an interest in this young beast-like child.

"Is that all you can do?"

The boy seemed shocked. I would also be shocked if a four-year-old could dodge my attacks. He didn't seem that much older than me, but he was indeed taller. I would estimate he was about eight or seven years old. He clenched his jaw and rushed towards me.

"You can NOT be more obvious."

I turned to my left side, dodging a punch. I stuck my foot forward and the boy tripped. I took this chance to light my bonfire. I pointed at my shabby bonfire with my index and middle finger and sent out a bolt of fire. That boy was on the ground, looking at me with the most dumbfounded face.

I grinned at him.

"Don't worry, I don't need magic to beat you."

The boy tried a different approach. He stayed low and dashed for my legs, I could tell he wanted to tackle me. I put out my right leg and the boy's face ran straight into my foot. Maybe I should have been a bit gentler because when he got up he had a small nose bleed.

"Ah, I'm sorry. Are you alright?"

I don't know what got into the boy but he finally started to talk. He had a pitchy voice, as expected from a child. Though, I'm in no position to criticize a kid's voice when I'm literally one as well. He glared and pointed at me while pinching his nose with the other hand.

"Ugh! What is with you! You creep!"

This boy certainly needed to be taught some manners.

"I'm a creep? Who showed up in a hood to steal my food?"

"I was hungry! How are you able to use magic already? Did you already awaken?! Impossible! You must be some monster!"

"Excuse me? I'm a monster? Look at you with your tail and ears!"

"I'm a Half-Beast! Don't your dad or mom keep a few as slaves?! Are you even from a noble household?!"

"How rude, and after I just survived from getting abandoned."

"You-"

The boy and I stood and looked at each other dead in the eye. Well, for one thing, that's certain, the language is still the same as it was in my old world. I guess this is what Alpha meant with how the Earth Copies are similar. The boy states that he's a Half-Beast but in my previous world, they were called Beastmen. How intriguing.