Friends in the woods

"I told you to stop doing that!" a pipsqueak voice exclaimed. "The reputation of the dwellers of the forest is only going to get worse if we keep harassing everyone that sets their foot in here."

"But he's here for the fountain!" remarked another voice, much deeper than the previous one.

It came from the wolf.

"There's no way the wolf is speaking now, is it?" Tailor dropped his sword and stared at it, not knowing what to do anymore.

A fairy showed up behind the beast. She was small, much smaller than a human's palm. Everything about her was green, from her skin, hair and eyes to her clothes, which looked like they were made from grass. From her back expanded two pairs of wings, both of them white and semi-transparent.

"You're not here for the fountain's water now, are you?" she asked while calmly approaching Tailor.

"I didn't even know what it did before I used it on my wound, so of course I wasn't here for it." he replied.

"See, that's why I told you to stop. Even my eyes can see that nothing about him screams thief. You need to stop attacking everyone you see."

"We have a very big problem." stated she while turning back to Tailor. "Because of those horrendous atrocities in the gates, us, the regular forest dwellers, have gained a bit of a bad reputation among your kind. They lived separately from everyone before and no one wanted to kill us, but because of them, all of the humans that come here from the city try to harm us."

"Wait, so you are saying that we are the ones invading your territory. But what I know is that you are attacking Gus' workers."

By now, Tailor has relaxed, sitting on the ground, getting his arm out of the fountain and putting the sword he received by his side.

"That's what they want you to believe, young man. You see, what the workers are doing is extracting the resources from our forest, but not just any kind of resource. They are taking all of our soul essence, from which parts of the ground under the forest are made out of. It normally is everywhere in the world, more or less, including the air that you breathe. What they are using this for is unknown to me, but the fact that they are taking it from us is killing our life source. If we can't get them to stop, we will die."

"I see, this makes sense. So what you mean is that they are exploiting your life source to get the materials that we use in our magic. I remember hearing from my mother that they are making 'mana' potions out of these. She used it to give our clothing materials special proprieties. So that's where it comes from."

"Exactly, I am glad to see that you are understanding our point of view."

"I remember what they taught us in the village when I was smaller. They theorized that magic was just manipulation of the soul essence and energy that's present everywhere, so that's why no person can use them inside the city, but they can use it inside the dungeons and other special places. So that's why the dungeons actually have different sizes?"

At this point, the fairy took a seat on his shoulders, her beast friend got a bit closer so he could still hear their conversation, but not too close, his tail remaining close to the ground.

"Yes, exactly. But you're deviating from our discussion... what is your name, now?"

"Name's Tailor." he replied

"Tailor... we really need you to get the humans to stop extracting our essence. Considering the situation, we decided that it would be the best to ask for one of them to solve this issue, and this is where you come in. Can you please make this stop?"

"I don't know if my intervention will be enough, but I will try my best to strike a deal with the guy that hired me, the owner of the business that's disturbing you."

"If you manage to pull this off we will be forever indebted to you, Tailor. Our forest is one of the last few remaining around your big city, if these get destroyed, who knows what will happen. Please, take care."

He somehow evaded yet another dangerous situation and turned in the direction to go home. The fairy's senses were tingling.

"I knew something was weird... Wait, Tailor. I sense no essence flow within you, so that's why you didn't use any spell? Don't tell me you can't control it, every living thing in this world can!"

"That's right, I never could." replied he while facing again towards the pair. "Everyone in my village could, my mother, who used her ability to make better clothes, my father who used his while fighting, and every single kid in the village could at least make a simple spark twinkle from their fingertips. But not me, I have been powerless since the beginning. I tried training my body but everything I did was not effective at all, maybe because of my lack of essence control."

"Why did they send you out here? If I wouldn't have been there to stop Layka from killing you, you would've been dead!"

"Maybe that's why... you should've let her do that. You know, I always wanted to go down my father's path, a strong hero capable of withstanding any malice in my path, but in the end, because of my weakness, I ended up fleeing away from it. Just like he did... ironic, huh?"

"Thinking like that is not going to get you anywhere... I know exactly what to do! Please close your eyes first."

Tailor proceeded to listen to the fairy's orders and stood as still as he could with no eye open. He felt something weird flowing down his body, from his head, down to his toes. And then a flow that has never been there before. A flow of something warm, going through his body, along his veins. It was soul essence, but it was flowing.

"Woah, this is incredible! Your soul essence is so dense, it literally blocked its own flow! You can open your eyes now."

"My body feels so much better right now! What did you do to it?"

"For starters, I created a way for your essence to way. This improved a lot in your body and you probably feel it. But the problem is that it won't last without you actively training and using that pathway, because of your dense essence."

"So what are you implying is that I am now able to cast magic like everyone else?"

"Magic is just external essence manipulation so I can't see why you wouldn't be able. Go ahead, try."

Tailor stood up, frozen in place, sticking his hand forward. His palm was facing up and he concentrated on the tip of his fingers. That's what everyone else said they did when they cast their spells. He put his entire focus on that very spot but he couldn't feel anything, not to mention that nothing was cast.

"So I really can't do it, even with your help..." he stated while leaning his head downwards.

"I see, your energy being dense affects your ability to cast magic. Did you try infusing something with it?"

"Infuse...?"

"Exactly. Try putting your hand on this tree stump and focus on that spot."

He complied, placing his palm on the now dead husk of the plant. His mind cleared, the only thing remaining was the contact between the two beings. He felt a bit of himself leave his body, and bit by bit, something grew from the old root. It was the sapling of another tree, and it grew bit by bit until it reached the size of a normal tree. Tailor was now tired, a big part of his dense energy being sent to the tree.

"That's incredible, Tailor!" exclaimed the fairy. "At this point, your potential is infinite!"

"You don't say..." he replied. His vision was blurry, he was shaking on his feet. A blink of his eyes was enough to get him put to sleep, falling on his back in the grass.

Another unknown span of time passed and Tailor woke up in his bed. When he realized, he got back on his feet and rushed downstairs. Miles and Gus were having a chat when he arrived there.

"How're ya feeling, Tailor?" asked Gus.

Tailor remembered what happened, and since he woke up, his body felt better than it ever did before. His energy was finally flowing! But this flow needs to be maintained.

"I heard that this guy had to save you again from the forest. Is it true?"

"I'm telling you, Gus, I swear to god something happened between this kid and the forests. The second time I find him unconscious there. Who knows what would've happened if someone else came across the kid."

"I feel you, I feel you. At least he did his job, the monsters were gone from the woods after I asked him to. So as promised, I'll try to pull some strings to see if I can get him enrolled. That doesn't mean he won't have to take any exams tho."

It finally struck him. The beings he met in the forest are probably gone by now, as the humans continued taking their energy.

Tailor failed...

"Heard that kid? Better get yourself prepared." said Miles as the corner of his mouth was rising.