Son Of The Spirit Beast 5 Encounter

It had been 3 years since Hei, Xing and Ye had started their hunting and physical training sessions. These workouts all consisted of simple exercises and capturing small preys, and therefore they didn't represent a danger to the three of them, especially since they had been constantly monitored by their mother.

However, even if they were nothing special, these exercises changed their physical appearance, strengthening their builds.

Among them, Hei was the one that showed the most changes of all. In fact, unless they lived in a particular situation, human children would be allowed to grow carefree and without any particular imposition by adults, and, only when they were older, would they receive training, depending on what their parents wanted them to become. However, the fact that he started training at just three years old allowed him to stand out from a normal child as he had an unusually tall and st.u.r.dy body for his age.

As far as Ye and Xing were concerned, since they were spiritual beasts and so it was normal that they were trained from an early age, even if not with such a regime, they didn't show any particular physical changes besides a size increase of a few centimeters due to the various molts performed during the years. But they were still more resistant and snappy than when they were just born.

Finally, their mother, Bao Bei, had not changed at all during this period. Obviously, having long since entered adulthood, even though she had once molted in these three years, she hadn't however grown up, unlike her two daughters. But you could notice a certain tiredness in her eyes that was not visible before.

In fact, in the last few months she had slightly loosened her constant supervision over her children, occasionally allowing herself moments of rest where Hei, Xing and Ye could play freely even though they were still forbidden to go outside the designated area.

And today was one of these rare moments of fatigue when Bao Bei would fall asleep.

They were in a small pond in the east side of the forest. This place was the same place where Bao Bei had brought the newly born Hei to clean him from amniotic fluid and blood. It was also a place where they occasionally went to collect water and take a bath.

Consequently Hei and his two little sisters had learned to know the area rather well and it was for this reason that Bao Bei felt that she could give herself a little rest even if they were not at home, since there wasn't' the danger that her children would get lost somewhere. She trusted them and she knew she couldn't always control them. As long as they didn't come out the designated area, everything would have been fine.

But, unfortunately, children, for one reason or another, didn't always follow the rules imposed by adults, even if they were educated and devout children like Hei. Indeed, precisely because they were so, it happened that they violated the rules imposed on them.

In fact, Hei had recently noticed his mother's growing sense of tiredness and he began to worry about it. He had tried to ask Bao Bei but she had always told him that everything was going well, which worried him even more because he felt subconsciously that his mother was not telling him the truth not to worry him.

Determined to alleviate their mother's tiredness a little, Hei elaborate a plan with Xing and Ye taking advantage of the fact that they would go to the lake and that their mother would relax a little in the warm sunlight.

'Listen, now that mother is sleeping it's our chance. We need to act as quickly as possible before she wakes up so we can surprise her, okay?' Hei said slowly, fearing that they could be heard.

'Yes, that's fine. But how do we divide the tasks? If we want to capture as many preys as possible before mother wakes up, we should split up and enlarge the area.' (Ye)

'Won't mother get angry if we go too far? Even if we know the place, this applies only to the part around the pond. Won't it be dangerous if we do as you say?' (Xing)

'Xing, if we don't take risks we will never catch the preys. Even mother tells us that there are times when you have to risk.' (Ye)

'It is true but she also says that we need to a.n.a.lyze the situation well before acting and it is better not to act than to act rashly.' (Xing)

Listening to his sisters arguing heatedly, Hei couldn't help but smile. In these years, in addition to an increase in size, the most notable change in the two of them was the formation of their personalities. With the acc.u.mulation of time and experience, two distinct characters had formed in them.

Xing was shy and she always prefer to deal with things prudently not wanting to go into dangerous situations and instead preferring to a.n.a.lyze carefully before acting. Ye, on the other hand, was more impulsive and lively. She preferred to deal with things openly without making too many problems about it.

As a result, this diversity sometimes generated small discussions, usually about how they should act to hunt a prey. But, even if they were so different from each other and they happened to argue, the two of them still had a very strong bond that united them and every night they would fall asleep next to each other.

Hei, on the other hand, had similarities with both: he always a.n.a.lyzed the situation before acting but if he saw that there was a good chance, he would decide to act even if the result was not 100% insured. Therefore it happened that he had to mediate during these quarrels.

At that point, Hei decided to intervene to interrupt the discussion between his two sisters to avoid wasting further time, 'Ok, that's enough. We've already lost enough time. We will split like this: Xing, you will take care of the insects in the area while you, Ye, will try to catch fish in the pond while being careful to stay close to the sh.o.r.e. If you prefer,.you can try to get something in the surroundings. I will instead go on a patrol and I will go deeper in the forest. From what mother told me, here we are near the eastern edge of the forest, so there shouldn't be problems. I recommend you to pay attention and not to be discovered by mother before I return.'

With this, the different roles were decided and finally the discussion between the little spider and the little snake subsided. Although Xing was worried that Hei wanted to go to other areas and Ye was disappointed that she couldn't go with him, the two of them decided to do as he said.

Ever since they were born, they had always considered Hei as their older brother and would always follow what Hei asked them to do. They also had full faith in him: although he was so different from them, he always showed deep affection towards them and during training he always put in the maximum effort to improve even if he didn't have the advantages they had.

Leaving his two sisters and his mother behind, Hei began to go deeper into the forest. In his two hands he was helding the wooden spear that had been given to him by his mother. Although it had become somewhat worn out, it still retained its sharpness and by now Hei had become attached to this weapon.

In order not to get lost, he decided to mark the trunk of some trees with his weapon, continuing in a straight line. Although he had never been to this part of the forest, he knew it was not that different from the other parts. Therefore, following the traces he left, it wouldn't been difficult to return. Obviously, since he had been raised in this forest, there was no danger that he would get lost into the trees and the dense vegetation and could not find the signs he made.

After having advanced cautiously but with a firm step, keeping all his senses alert, Hei suddenly noticed a strange noise coming from a bush on his right. Hearing this, he immediately hurried to crouch while holding the spear with his left hand and taking a little bit of earth with his right hand, forming a ball.

As he was left-handed, Hei always tended to leave his spear in his left hand when he didn't grasp it with his two hands. However, when it came to throwing things, including his weapon, he would always use his right hand. Strangely, although the left one was his dominant arm and had more strength than the right one, with it he couldn't throw as well as with his right arm.

Once the ball of earth was formed, Hei threw it against the bush to flush out the creature inside it. This, when struck by the small earth ball, made a strange noise and came out of its hiding place, becoming visible.

It was a multicolored hare. They were called that because they had a mixture of different colors and they were very famous because their meat was said to be very nutritious and light, suitable for those who were sick. But even though they were so famous, it was difficult to capture them because they were fast and small, so they could sneak into even small cracks.

Seeing that it was a multicolored hare, Hei's eyes lit up. This animal was the perfect prey to bring to his mother who, despite not being sick, was still suffering from a lack of strength.

Struggling to remain calm, Hei tried to get closer slowly to be able to sink his spear into the hare. However, the animal proved to be faster than expected. Seeing him approach, the hare wasted no time lingering in that position and escaped.

Seeing that it was running away, Hei immediately pursued. Although he would normally have a.n.a.lyzed first whether it was appropriate to pursue a prey in unknown territory, his desire to be useful to his mother and help her were clouding his mind and not allowing him to reason with a cool head.

A peculiar feature of Hei was that he was very attached to his family and would do anything to protect them. But this deep affection, despite being his strongest point, also represented a flaw because, as on this occasion, it didn't allow him to be totally rational and cool.

In fact, he ended up going too far from his previously determined research area and was nearing too close to the edge of the forest where possible contact with external people was possible.

And it was just as he was about to reach the hare that suddenly he noticed someone kneeling to pick up what looked like mushrooms.

It was a young girl about 12 years old. She had a fair complexion, although with a slight tan due to frequent exposure to the sun, with long brown hair. She wore a simple brown robe and she held in her two arms a small basket where she had placed the various mushrooms she had found.

Seeing her, Hei was like he had been struck by a lightning. He immediately forgot about the hare that was running away and stopped to look at the girl.

It was the first time he saw a creature like her; or rather, it was the first time he saw a creature like him.

Although it no longer represented a source of concern, the fact that there were no creatures like him had always remained a mystery. His mother had never answered him adequately, changing the subject each time. Treating it as a simple curiosity, Hei also decided not to investigate further since it wasn't something so important anyway.

Yet, being now faced with someone like him, that simple curiosity flared up again in his heart in search of answers.

The girl who was at first frightened by the loud noise and Hei's abrupt appearance, calmed down herself when she saw it was just a child. From the appearance it seemed to be a 7-8 years old child but it was his clothes that intrigued her the most: silvery white silk dressed from head to toe.

This l.u.s.ter was clear evidence of the quality of these garments. Wondering if he was the son of some important person due to the clothes, she asked Hei in a gentle voice, 'Hi, are you here alone? Where are your mom and dad? You lost them?'

When Hei heard her spoke, the words the girl said had no meaning to him and they were nothing but a bunch of distorted sounds. Sensing that she was trying to communicate with him, Hei tried to do as usual by communicating with the method his mother had taught him.

The girl suddenly heard a series of strange noises similar to those of an animal. Frightened by this phenomenon, she fell to the ground from her squatting position wondering what was that.

While Hei didn't understand why the girl had fallen to the ground when he spoke to her, suddenly he heard a loud noise resounding inside him.

Frightened, he immediately understood that it was his mother and she had discovered that he had moved into an area where he was not supposed to go.

Finally, realizing that this time he had really made a huge mess, he turned abruptly and disappeared into the forest, leaving the young girl on the ground in a daze while from behind her rose the voice of her father who called her from afar.

Following the sound of his mother's voice, Hei finally managed to return to the lake from which he had left. There, he could see his mother beside a frightened Xing and a frightened Ye due to the fact that they had disobeyed their mother's order.

'Where have you been? Why did you disobey what I ordered you by even going to places you don't know? You even got your two sisters involved in this?! Do you have any idea how you made me worry and how dangerous and stupid was what you did?'

Bao Bei was furious. She did not expect Hei to be, among the three, who was usually the most responsible, to have broken her orders and done something so dangerous. But above all, it was a rage due to fear. Fear that something would happen to Hei and she would lose him forever.

Hei, frightened by the shouts of his mother, began to cry and was barely able to tell why he had done this.

Listening to the reason behind his action, Bao Bei was stunned. She didn't expect her to be the reason for this foolish plan and she felt horrible since she indirectly placed her son in danger. With her anger slightly subsided, she approached Hei and pulled him to calm him down.

'Everything is alright. I understand, there is no need to cry. Now, calm down, okay?'

Seeing his mother no longer as angry as before, Hei along with Xing and Ye breathed a sigh of relief. Then, taking advantage of her not being so angry, while he was still continuing to crying, Hei decided to tell his mother about the meeting he had int the forest.

'Mother, I know I was wrong and I'm sorry. But while I was chasing a multicolored hare, I saw a creature like me. It wasn't like the other animals in the forest and it wore clothes like me.' Hei said with excitement, starting to forget that he had been scolded just a moment ago.

Hearing this, Bao Bei shuddered. Suddenly she felt something breaking insider her as the worries she had always kept within herself came out.

Holding back herself with difficulty, she told her children, 'Let's go home first. Once we arrive at home, we will have to talk about various things and you will have to listen extremely careful, all right?'

Thus, without waiting for their response, she turned to head for home while Hei, Xing and Ye followed behind her, confused by their mother's behavior.