As if reading his mind several figures crept from the shadows. "Wolves?!" The first thought that came to his mind after seeing the creatures. They circled his perimeter, as if gauging him.
"I love animals but I don't want to become their food!" he thought, as Nid observes their movements.
Without warning, one of the creatures lunged at him. He closed his eyes and braced himself, anticipating a painful end to his nightmare. Afterall, he was just a defenseless infant. Nid's every fiber filled with tension making his consciousness abandoned him. As he slumbered, he sensed a familiar atmosphere.
"Hmm. It feels like I've been here before."
He noticed a faint glow going in and out of existence, as if calling him. His eyes widened "I've been here before! It's the same cross like points as earlier."
"Hmm. From what I remember, none of these points were lit, yet now the center point is." As if clicking on lit point, he was able to see what it contains. "abilities huh? Let's see."
He navigated 'menu' as if it was second nature soon he was studying his new abilities and its effect. While reading, the tech enthusiast in him emerged, "It would be a lot easier and more user friendly if this had some voice assist."
"Voice Assist unlocked!" A feminine sounding voice exclaimed.
"Ability: Mind Read
Effect: You can read the thoughts of a selected individual, granted that the individual has permitted you or is weaker than you."
"Ability: Dream Weave
Effect: You can manipulate the dream of an individual, granted that the individual has permitted you or is weaker than you."
"Ability: Mental Map
Effect: Deploys an overground recreation of an explored map mentally."
After having read the abilities, Nid closed the menu. He opened his eyes, gentle sunlight blinded him. He thought to himself "Finally that nightmare is over!"
He then stretched his body to prepare for another day of grind at work. As he was doing his routine, his eyes started to adjust and what we saw baffled him. He was still an infant, worse he was still in the forest.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING??!! WHY AM I STILL HERE??!! THIS NIGHTMARE SHOULD BE DONE BY NOW!" He screamed in confusion.
"I read about this on an article online. What did it say again. . . Oh yeah, I need to introduce a new stimulus like a pinch, to wake up." still trying to convince himself that this is all a dream.
He then realized that he can't do that either as he had uncoordinated baby hands.
"Curse this body!"
Still not trying to give up that this is all just a bad dream. He concocted another plan to wake up from this supposed dream.
"Maybe if I sleep again, I'll wake up from this absurdity."
He tried different things, struggled, all of which translated into the baby language of wailing and crying. Yet still it all failed, he gave up and accepted his fate, "this might be my new reality."
Amidst the confusion that, he felt a looming presence walking towards him. This presence seemed harmless, with this however he suddenly had an epiphany. He was surrounded by an aggressive presence last night, yet he was still unscathed.
"What happened after I passed out?" He asked all disoriented.
While he was racking his brain trying to remember what happened, he noticed a silhouette. There stood a figure of a lady, with long hair and slender body. She was unnaturally attractive, but something appears strange about her body, she seemed to have branches and vines sprouting off her.
"What do you want?" Nid asked, then realized he was just making baby noises.
"I wish I can at least communicate with them with telepathy." He mused.
As he was talking to himself, the woman bent down and tried to reach him. He freaked out and wailed, she did not know what the woman wanted.
"Oi! Oi! Oi! What do you think you're doing?" He screamed in his mind.
The woman's eyes grew wide, suddenly taken aback, a confused look drawn in her face. Nid who was observing her also seemed more confused by what is happening. Then the woman spoke "okh lurne n'fal?"
Nid did not understand what she said. She seemed to be speaking to him, but she was using a language not known to him.
"Boodle translate would have been very helpful right about now!"
The woman's eyes widened yet again, her eyes darted from left to right, as if scanning the area. Nid tried to follow her gaze, yet gained nothing but more confusion. The woman's gaze stopped on him, he did not feel any ominous ulterior motive, but he's not taking any chances.
"Why are here? What are you trying to do to me?" He repeated his thought.
He was not expecting anything fruitful from what he's doing. Yet being a non-speaking baby, he didn't really had much options. Unexpectedly however, she looked bewildered. Nid did not know what is happening, maybe he looked strange or foreign or something. Seeing the lady directly eyeing him made him feel awkward.
"Hello?" He blurted out.
Just then the lady blinked and regained some composure. "Are thee the one talking to this one's mind?" the lady asked.
Nid just had a mini-heart attack, He just heard something he somewhat understood. He looked around, as much as his baby figure permits. He saw no one except the lady in front of him.
He then asked "Are you talking to me?"
His thoughts were clear yet all his infant physique can do is produce some baby sounds. This was met with a smile from the lady in front of him.
She reached out for Nid's chin and give it a little tickle,"Aye I am talking to thee, and I assume that the baby in front of me is the one talking directly into mine own head."
Nid found the way she spoke to be a bit archaic. Despite this he was glad about being able to communicate at all.
"You're not gonna eat me? Are you?" Nid questioned.
Nid had a hunch that the woman can be trusted, nonetheless this didn't mean that he can't ask more questions to make sure he's on the safe side.
"What does thee think?" the lady retorted with a smile lightly tapping Nid's forehead.
He attempted to add humor to his answer with "You don't look carnivorous to me. Haha."
She just smiled at him. She then proceeded to ask "Do you have a name little one?"
"Umm. Yeah, my name is Niadra Veste. How about you? What's your name?"
"This one is called Andrasyl, mistress of the forest." She replied with a radiant smile accompanied by a majestic bow.
"May I trouble thee with another query Niadra Veste?" she asked, with a bit of worry in her face.
"Sure, fire away. Please just call me Nid, saying my whole name is kind of awkward. Haha." Nid replied with a jolly tone.
"Fire away. . ? What . . ? Anyway, what I did want to ask, is about thy situation, you seem to already possess intellect and abilities, however you still look like an infant? do you have a need for sustenance and care?" She asked with a mix of confusion and concern.
With the mention of sustenance, Nid's mind filled with food and drinks. He had not eaten nor drink since yesterday. He did not seem badly hungry but was also feeling like he needs some food or drink now.
"Now that you mention it, I haven't had anything to eat or drink since I came here." Nid stated while gauging his hunger level.
"I have another question, How did you find me?" Nid added.
Although Nid already had a rough idea of how he was found, having cleared area in the forest through the impact of his spawning. He still wanted to ask her as she might provide more light on his current situation.
"I think most of the inhabitants, if not all, are aware of thy presence here Nid. Tis not everyday that someone can witness the birth of a being from the sky. Tis also why diff'rent beings from all over the forest have been scouting the area. Remember the sigbins from last night? those gents were sent here to investigate about thee. " Andrasyl answered.
"Beings have been scouting me? sigbins? What do they want from me?" Nid thought.
Nid forgot that he was able to talk to her telepathically, thus he unexpectedly told her what he thought.
"I'm sorry, if I confused thee. sigbins are the creatures that surrounded thee last night. As for what they want from thy little one, i'm afraid cannot provide the answer.." She apologized.
Nid went into deep thought again "from what Andrasyl said, it seems that my presence is known to all the inhabitants of the forest already. Not only that but it seems that I am already under scrutiny of the inhabitants of this woodland."
A nagging feeling suddenly bloomed in his mind , it's like he's forgetting something important. "Come to think of it, I seem to be forgetting something important about the creatures what happened to me last night. . . " he mused.
The whole time Nid was thinking not to mention leaking his thoughts. Andrasyl just stood and smiled, patiently waiting for him.
He racked his brain brain for the answer, then it dawned on him.
"I remember now, I was surrounded by wolves last night. One of those wolves lunged at me, trying to attack me, but I lost my consciousness." he recalled.
" If all of this is real then I should have died last night, because I was attacked by those wolves. How am I still alive?"
Nid felt like Andrasyl knew what had happened, based from what he told him. So he decided to probe for the answer.
Andrasyl pointed upwards. Then said "wolves? I know not of wolves, as only sigbins were around. Look up there at the light, this dome is a barrier to protect thee from harm. It prevents entry of malignant beings or objects, and absorbs any damage and returns it at the attacker"
"I analyzed this magic earlier, this is a very stout magic. One so ancient, it exists only in legends. This magic is so potent that it holds up for a whole week, shall last for 6 days more before it expires. Whoever cast this is indeed powerful" She added with clear awe.
"So it's like a form of novice protection that can be found in some games, since I am an infant and unable to defend myself. If that's the case how come Andrasyl was able to enter the barrier." Nid monologued to himself forgetting that he is telepathically leaking his thoughts to her.
"Novice protection? what magic is that? are you not the one who cast this magic? but if it be true then why would thee ask why you are alive?" Asked Andrasyl who was switching from questioning me to self-monologuing.
"Also like I have said, the barrier only stops entry from those who wish to harm thee. So this one was able to pass, as I have no intentions of bringing you harm." She added with a smile.
"Oh, novice protection is nothing really. I really need to stop my thoughts from leaking like this. haha." Nid smiled awkwardly in his mind. "It's just something from some games back where I'm from. Haha." Nid explained.
Andrasyl looked more confused, and Nid felt that he would soon be bombarded by lots of questions. So Nid took the initiative and explained his situation, his past life and how he got here. While failing to include the part where he haphazardly chose his spawn point, without listening to what the voice was saying.
"I see, so this little one is not from this world originally, but some place called earth. I can not say that I fully comprehend all of this, however I believe thee." looking a bit dumbfounded about the situation.
Andrasyl took a deep breath recollecting her composure and said "I'm here to offer thee care under mine own protection seeing as you seem to be unable to fend for yourself."
"Really?!!" Nid exclaimed with surprise. "I mean, that would be great! I really don't know what to do with myself at this point. Haha." he said with bliss.
One of his greatest fears upon realizing that he is stuck here has now been answered. He no longer have to worry about his day to day survival, like how to acquire food and drink especially as an infant. Out of the bloom, he remembered, he's an 'infant', he should not even be capable of communication. So he then asked her:
"How am I able to talk with you anyway? Did you use some sort of magic?" asked Nid.
She looked a bit confused, then replied "Nay, I do not have any magic like that. This one thinks the little one is using such ability."
After Andrasyl denied that she cast such magic, Nid then remembered that he was able to access some sort of menu that gave him information on some things like abilities. So he tried accessing them again via mediation. There he noticed the flashing light on a point, the same point he selected when he was trying to learn about his abilities. He re-selected the said point to learn about what has changed.
A feminine voice from before then read the newly added abilities.
"Ability: Language Translate
Effect: Translate language into an understandable form for both the speaker and the listener.
Ability: Telepathy
Effect: Communicate directly through a selected one's mind."
"I had these abilities and I didn't know about it?! Man I wish I had an AI assistant or something to inform me of such things!" Nid frowned.
All of a sudden, the feminine voice said "Permission granted, Voice Assistant is now able to notify when new abilities are acquired."
"Just like that? Well it's not like I'm complaining, so thanks." he thought.
He then returned to his senses, with a woman standing before him. It was Andrasyl, she was waiting for Nid to snap out of his trance. To Andrasyl, the moment Nid started meditating she felt some sort of calm enter him and the area in close proximity. As she was one with the forest, she knew that he was doing something and decided just to wait for him.
"Were you waiting for me? How long was I out?" Nid asked her.
"I was, and t'was not long. What were thee doing?" Andrasyl queried.
"Oh, I was meditating, sort of examining myself. Haha." Nid replied.
"I see" She still had some questions but felt that it could be left for later. So she asked "Are you ready to depart and go to thy new home?"
"Yup!" Nid replied happily.
She leaned down, picked Nid up and walked into the wood elegance emanating from her every move. It was a long walk but now, Andrasyl stood still facing into a meadow. She sat him down in her arms, soon Nid's vision filled with grass and flowering plants, there were small fairy like creatures glittering the field and at the center of it all was a gigantic tree. This tree towered above all the others and had a regal and magical feel to it.
Andrasyl smiled at him and said "Welcome to thy new home."
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