12: Forest Spirit

'It's been three days that I have been in this forest, and aside from small fish in the river, I haven't seen a single nova beast.'

Icarus found it very strange how devoid of life this forest was.

Despite having lived his entire life in the village, Icarus had heard tales from the local plantation workers about the dangers of the surrounding forest. They spoke of vicious nova beasts that roamed the woods and had been known to attack and devour those who dared to venture into the forest. 

And yet despite that, aside from Nu, Icarus had not come into contact with a single nova beast in the three days spent in the wild.

Looking at Nu beside him he could not help but smile and ask,

"Could it be because of you little guy?"

Nu gave the boy a blank stare and continued walking.

"Of course not. Hahaha."

Although Icarus referred to Nu as "Little guy," the beast was only slightly shorter than him. However, in comparison to other Nova beasts in the area, Nu was a dwarf.

In the Northern region, there are several large, predatory creatures that are often encountered - the Felis, towering at six meters in height, and the Wulvs, standing at four meters tall. In comparison, the Nu, measuring only 1.5 meters, and the Icarus, at 1.55 meters, are much smaller in size. They are so tiny that they seem like easy prey for these larger predators and would be treated as walking snacks.

'I mean it's not like I wanted to get eaten but I thought I would have seen at least one nova beast by now.'

CRACK!

Upon hearing the sound bot Icarus and Nu stopped in their tracks.

CRACK!

This time, the sound of cracking was unmistakable, echoing through the air with a sharp intensity that made Icarus's heart race. It was much closer than before, as if whatever was making the noise was now right next to him.

CRACK!

CRACK! 

Suddenly, a colossal creature emerged from the dense forest to the right of Icarus and Nu. Its body was a blend of fiery red and ominous black, giving it a terrifying appearance. The sheer size of the creature made the surrounding trees look like mere saplings in comparison. With each effortless stride, it swept away anything in its path, snapping trees like twigs by simply brushing past them. The sight of the creature left Icarus paralyzed with fear.

"N-N-N-Nu y-y-you have to run!" Icarus began stammering out to his feline companion.

"Nuuu?"

Nu gave the boy a confused look as if to say why run?

"ROOOAR!!!"

The beast, with its black and red fur, stood on its hind legs and let out an earth-shattering roar that echoed throughout the forest.

'Is that a forest spirit?'

Forest spirits were high-class nova beasts that dwelled deep within forests.

'What would one be doing here?'

Thousands of thoughts raced through Icarus's mind on the current situation, none of them a solution.

'If nothing else I need to make sure Nu survives, it saved me once and I need to repay that debt.'

Icarus steeled his nerves and resolved to at least save the beast next to him. 

"Nu I will distract him, you run. Okay?"

The beast looked at the boy with a strange look once again.

"Nuuu?"

Instead of turning to run the beast instead stood its ground next to the boy.

"I guess our journey ends together like this then."

Icarus dashed right to the large forest spirit in a kamikaze attack.

'I didn't even get a chance to learn how to use my nova properly so the most I can manage is a physical attack.'

Closing the distance at a speed that even the forest spirit wasn't able to track Icarus leaped up and struck out at the large beast's snout.

"ARGH!"

Striking with all his might Icarus made solid contact.

Only to have no effect.

The forest spirit swatted Icarus out of the air and into a large tree, breaking the tree upon impact.

"Nu, run.... away..."

Icarus pleaded with Nu one last time before losing consciousness.

.

.

.

.

Nu had come across Icarus's body floating down the river while it was strolling through the forest.

Thinking the boy was dead Nu planned to let him continue floating, but it was able to sense a faint energy from the boy.

Feeling bad for the small creature Nu fished the boy with its tail only then realizing the extent of the child's wounds.

Usually Nu would never interact with Novites, but something about this child stood out to the beast even though it didn't know what exactly.

Nu healed the child.

'Such a frail being, and yet they break him like this how cruel can Novites be."

After healing the child, Nu waited until he awoke. Once he knew the boy was fine, Nu decided to go along his way.

Then something strange occurred.

The boy awoke and thanked Nu.

'A strange one this child is.'

Nu found amusement in the boy's contrasting selfless nature compared to the greedy, destructive Novites it had encountered before.

 Nu's interest was piqued, so it decided to play with the boy before moving on. 

The beast would convince the boy to bring it the delicious yellow fruit high up in the trees, even though Nu could obtain it, it preferred to conserve energy.

And despite the constant inconvenience the most the boy would do was grumble.

Nu began to like the child, having a companion that brought him those delicious fruits was convenient. 

It also seemed that the boy needed someone to vent to.

Nu could understand Novite's language and would listen to the tragic tale of this child's life and yet despite that the child held on to hope, even trying to make it downriver to where the other Novites gathered.

'I will get the boy there safely and be on my way' Nu would tell itself.

But as they continued downriver Nu found itself looking for reasons to prolong the journey not wanting this time to end so soon, it had been years since Nu had a companion.

When the forest spirit. Obsidian Blood Bear, attacked the child had implored Nu to flee offering himself as a sacrifice.

'Does he not know what Nu is?"

Even after being swatted away and sustaining severe injury the child only worried for Nu.

'I have seen enough, this child isn't like the rest of his kind he is truly selfless a one of one, I must not let him perish here.'

For the first time in many years, Nu reverted to its original form intending to combat the Obsidian Blood Bear.