As the fox ran through the forest floor, three pieces of cobblestone flew through the air after it, barely missing it. The fox, having seemingly escaped from the two children that were chasing after it, turned back to get a better look at its predators as a way to taunt them. However, what the fox hadn't expected was that the boy somehow got in front of him as the last thing it saw before dying was a fireball from the boy's hand.

"I didn't want to do that," Andrew complained, "If I kill it with fire then we can't use its hide to make boots. Eliza, you need to predict its movement. You can't just shoot at where it is. You need to aim at where it will be."

"Easy for you to say," Eliza pouted, "Your magic is stronger than mine."

"It's not about magic," Andrew shook his head, "Your projectile takes time to travel through the air. It can't just immediately hit your prey without any time, so you need to aim your attacks accordingly. Normal animals aren't that smart: they usually just run in a straight line."

Eliza nodded, "I guess we can try it."

"Nah," Andrew said, "It's getting dark soon. We should set up camp for the night. We can work on it in the morning."

The two children then started assessing their supplies to prepare for the night. While they weren't even five years old yet, Andrew had been trained at survival in the wilderness by Tameka, and elves live in the forests, so despite not being as skilled at survival as Andrew, Eliza was more than capable to take care of herself.

"You collect some branches and start a fire," Andrew told Eliza, "I'll scout the area, see if there's anything dangerous," as he left their camp and started walking into the unknown deep inside the forest.

As Andrew continued trekking through the forest, he noticed something strange. He and Eliza had survived inside the forest for quite a while, but what he witnessed in front of his eyes was something much more mysterious: a blood-red mist.

It wasn't the first time Andrew left Eliza alone so that he could go scouting around the area, but it was the first time he had seen the red mist before. It was strangely eerie, and as Andrew was walking in it, it started sending him chills down his spine.

Andrew swallowed in nervousness, looking all around to see possible sources of the red mist when he suddenly realized something: he wasn't quite sure where he was. He had used his knife to mark one of the spruce trees in the forest so that he could return to it later, but amidst the red mist, he couldn't see anything.

Then he suddenly heard a sound.

It was faint yet chilling.

Andrew turned his head at the sound, sweating in fear. He opened his palm and conjured a small fireball that gave him light and vision as he started walking towards the sound. He wasn't sure what the sound was, but he had no other choice than to follow it since it was the only actual destination he had right then.

Andrew had been walking for so long that he couldn't really remember how long he had left Eliza alone. Was it an hour? Maybe two? He simply wasn't sure. However, he had gone too far to turn back, so he just kept on walking and walking.

And that was when he suddenly stepped onto a branch in the forest and cracked it in half. Normally, it wouldn't have much effect, but somehow Andrew could feel a terrifying breeze rushing at him as he fell on his back.

He saw a silhouette in the red mist. It was probably a middle-aged man, wielding what seemed to be a war hammer of some kind. The man emerged from the mist, staring at Andrew curiously. He had bright red hair and seemingly white eyes.

The red-haired man stared at Andrew as he tilted his head to the side before he raised his hammer and pointed it at Andrew. Suddenly, Andrew felt something burning inside him. He vomited before grabbing his chest in pain.

Then, Andrew saw a familiar sight. He had never actually seen it in the real world before, but he realized it the second he saw it.

It was the dark grimoire inside his body.

The man no longer focused his attention on Andrew as he closed his eyes, seemingly talking to the grimoire in some way when suddenly, Andrew heard something.

"Is this working?" he heard a deep voice. The feeling was similar to the voice he occasionally heard in his head, but this voice was much warmer and had a heroic feel to it.

"Wha... Who... Who is this?" Andrew stuttered.

"Who do you think I am?" the voice asked.

Andrew looked in front of him. The red-haired was no longer closing his eyes, communicating with the grimoire, but was now seemingly talking to him.

"So... you..."

"Yes," the man nodded.

"Who... Who are you?" Andrew asked.

"You don't know who I am?" the man asked, seemingly disappointed, "I would've expected Samael to do better than this. Well, I guess you can't do everything perfectly on your first attempt."

Samael, Andrew thought, That name again.

"Who's Samael?" Andrew questioned.

"Or maybe it's not a coincidence after all," the man ignored Andrew, "Yes... It's possible... The timing is simply uncanny."

"WHO'S SAMAEL?" Andrew yelled.

The man looked at Andrew, seemingly having only suddenly remembered that Andrew was there, "You... You may be a very important piece in the future. This is... strange," the man sighed, "I just don't know what they're planning. But whatever it is, I'm sure you'll have an important part in it. I can only hope that he doesn't punish you for getting involved in this folly. I don't know what you thought when you pulled this... stunt, but... just be safe, Samael. And when this all ends, I hope you will be welcomed back as one of us."

"I... What do you mean?"

The man shook his head in disappointment as he stared at Andrew blankly. Then suddenly, Andrew heard another sound.

A laugh.

He could see the red-haired man's face darken. Something was concerning him, and even though Andrew hadn't known this man for very long, he immediately felt that whoever - or whatever - was concerning him, it was dangerous. Maybe even deadly.

The man sighed as he raised his hand and pointed it at Andrew. Andrew wasn't sure what he was doing, but he could hear very silent sounds in his head - incantations, possibly? He stared at the man, watching him seemingly canting something before the man's eyes flashed yellow as Andrew suddenly flew backwards as everything turned to black.