Myrani modified Viczien’s clothing so that he could move his arms and legs freely. And over the next few days, we could see how he became more and more active with them.

Less than two weeks had passed, and Viczien began to crawl. Funnily enough, he chased me wherever I went. He tried to imitate me repeatedly, so he would lay down next to me when I lay down. If I wanted to have a drink or something to eat, he tried to imitate me. He had to be stopped by Mom and Si, so he wouldn't fall into the creek or that he wasn't eat something wrong. Surprisingly, he didn't want to play with me because he chose Ef and Si as his playing partners. He loved to ride on Si's back or roll through the grass and snow with Ef.

It was playing time, and I could sneak away because Aigle set a time for us to meet. She asked about Viczien every now and then, but today we met to talk about the Core Eater ability.

Our meeting point was beyond the meadow, by an old tree further south. It was easy to find as the stream ran near it.

Aigle was sitting on one of the roots, which was shaped like a chair for some reason.

"There you are! Thank you, Ovid¹This tree`s name is a reference to the Roman poet.."

She jumped from the root and thanked the tree. The root sunk, and there was nothing to suggest that it had previously served as a chair.

"Trees can move?"

I asked my question, confused.

“No, but that doesn't mean trees don't have a personality of their own. Especially the older ones are sociable trees."

She knocked on the trunk of the tree.

“Ovid here is a gifted storyteller. He loves listening to the other trees and collecting all of their stories."

She moved away from him and came to me.

"Come on, we have to walk a little before we get to the place."

I put my head to one side.

"Which place?"

Her lips formed a big smile.

"You will see."

She turned away and started walking. I hopped next to her as we passed tree after tree. Some of them greeted her, and some didn't.

We reached a cave that descended into the earth. I peeked in but couldn't look very far down as the cave turned a few yards away.

"This is a spore wolf's nest."

"Spore Wolf?"

“A spore wolf is a very annoying species. Unlike normal wolves, they are not made of meat and bones, but their body is a type of plant. They eat meat like carnivorous plants, but... they spread spores with their breath, these are poisonous to trees and flowers, but not for animals."

"And how do I get into the game?"

"I want you to kill the spore wolf. From what you've already told me, you have to kill a creature you've never killed before. I'll give you a tip, the wolf is a plant, so it will use roots and leaves like weapons."

I nodded somewhat reluctantly.

"Roger that."

I hopped down the cave. There was a sweet scent in the air that made my feet light and carried me down into the cave.

*Grrr*

A growl continued to be heard in the cave, and I reflexively slowed down. I took small steps and looked carefully around the corner.

A wolf, no, something that looked like a wolf stood at the end of the cave. Its body was covered with leaves, and the empty spots showed me that the body was made up of roots or branches.

And what now? I should have asked Aigle how strong spore wolves are.

I jumped out of hiding and fired a salvo of fireballs. The first fireball fizzled out after a few meters. It seemed to me as if the surrounding air was robbing the fireball of its magic. The second fireball flew twice as far, but it dissolved as well in the air before it reached the spore wolf.

The third and fourth fireballs reached the spore wolf and struck its back. The leaves growing on it immediately began to burn.

It threw itself on its back and rolled across the cave floor to smother the flames. He managed that quickly, and before I knew it, the wolf was standing and looking at me with his glowing yellow eyes.

*Grrr*

It growled at me and bared its teeth.

Leaves peeled off his body and flew towards me at high speed.

Razor Leaf!²Pokémon!

I jumped aside and shot fireballs at the wolf again. A root came out of the ground and smashed every single fireball.

...Fire doesn't seem that effective as it should be. I'll have to try something else. Darkness!

Spears shot from every end of the cave and pierced the wolf's body. It all happened so quickly that it couldn't even defend itself against my attacks.

The body went numb, and something that looked like resin oozed from the open wounds. A yellow-green orb rose from the wolf's body and flew over to me.

"Well done."

Aigle was standing right behind me and startled me, at which point I jumped away from her.

“I thought the spores are poisonous to you? Because dryads are plants too."

She tapped my head.

"And am I a normal dryad?"

"Then why didn't you defeat the wolf with me?"

Aigle ran her index finger and thumb over her chin.

“Well, I wanted to watch you fight. You are in control of your darkness, but... you are misusing it. I knew someone who could teach you, but the person... unfortunately, she is no longer there."

"Death?"

Aigle shook her head at my question.

“She is not, but something close to death. We should get back to the matter of why we are here."

She pointed to the corpse of the spore wolf. She approached and threw the corpse over her shoulder with a jerk.

"Let's look at it outside."

She walked past me in the direction of the cave's entrance. I turned and followed her. Once outside, she threw the body on the forest floor and lowered herself to it.

"What do you expect to find?"

"The core, of course."

A leaf in the shape of a knife appeared in her hand. She put its tip on the chest of the spore wolf.

"The core should be next to the heart."

As she explained this, she cut into the spore wolf's body. She opened its chest and pushed everything aside to its heart. With her hand, she reached inside, and I had to turn away because I could no longer watch it. Seeing death was one thing, but the innards were completely different. The innards looked different from innards from normal animals, but they were still innards.

"I have it."

With one swift movement, Aigle pulled something out of the wolf's chest. She kicked the body away a few feet and turned to me.

"Check out this here."

I looked carefully over to her. In her hand, there was something circular on which black crystals were growing.

"And what is that?"

For some reason grew a feeling inside of me that made me dislike this circular organ.

“This is the heart of the spore wolf, and these crystals are actually the core. They are called the core because this is where the creature's magic gathers. Humans call these crystals the magic core."

She broke the crystals off the heart and tossed the heart off over her shoulders.

"Is it ok to just throw away the body and heart?"

She turned and looked behind her.

“The wolf is a plant. Either it is eaten by herbivores, or it becomes fertilizer for the trees. You don't need to worry about that."

She sat on the forest floor and held the core up in front of me.

"That's strange. The core of a spore wolf is actually yellowish and not black."

"What does that mean?"

She shook her head, depressed.

“I don't know… But these crystals are voided. I think your core eater is absorbing the magic of the creatures you defeat."

"Those orbs."

Aigle looked up at my statement.

"Orbs?"

"Every time a new being is defeated, an orb floats from its corpse to me."

She hit the palm of her hand with her fist.

"I have an idea. We end this for today. You should go back. I'll look a little longer for another spore wolf that you can defeat tomorrow."

I nodded in agreement, then we said goodbye, and I returned home. I couldn't wait to see how Viczien would react. After all, it was the first time that I wasn't with him for a long time.