UPDATE: I will be taking a break from writing this story for a while. In the meantime, I'll be translating a webnovel. It's not that I am running out of things to put in my chapters. I just want to try changing my writing style. For example, I wanna give more details about the story and the things happening in it. I also want to be more discriptive of what my characters look like, things like that. Translating a webnovel may give me inspiration. I will probably update on this story in about five days. So, I'll see you on Thursday. Have a great day! 

UPDATE OF THE UPDATE: I will post the next chap in 2 days. 2/2/2021

A/N: We’ve done it folks! This story’s been going on for ten chapters! That’s a memorable achievement right there! Also, there are already about thirty-three thousand words on here not including this chapter! I think that this story’s going to be as long as a full book! I’ll probably have different arcs, in that case. I want to name what this arc is called, but don’t have a good idea so I’ll just call it the “Hut Arc” for now. Have an enjoyable read! See you at the end of the chapter! 

“So, first rule: The person who is the seeker can gain henchmen along the way to find the hiders. He/she can do this by touching a person before they know you were near them. You may only have up to three henchmen at the same time. The henchmen can help you seek for others. If you are unsuccessful at gaining a henchman and have them see you, you shall need to let them go away until you’ve finished counting to twenty. Any questions about that rule?”

“One question, Cadmar,” said the gentle voice of Laurine. She was a timid person.

“Okay, go on. Ask me the question.”

“Do the hiders also get to have henchmen?”

“Uhhhh, what use would henchmen be to a hider, exactly?”

“The henchmen would be able to act like scouts. They’d be able to tell their boss about their findings. They could also be used as a sacrificial pawn,” replied Laurine to me in a cold, but calm analytical voice.

“Hmmmm, henchmen for the hiders, huh? What if there aren’t henchmen for the hiders, but they are able to group up?”

“Sounds good.”

“Any more questions?”

I waited for ten seconds, waiting to see if anyone would raise their questions if they had any. No one raised any questions, so I continued on.

“Let me be a bit more specific about the hiders grouping up. You may only have a group of up to three people. The groups do not have any limitations imposed on them. It does not matter if you are a henchman or a hider, you can all be in a group. If you are in a group, you may not interact with another group.”

“You may not hide underground and have to stay at least a foot above ground. You may also use magic. The places you can hide are all in the forest. You may not go into the hut, nor the gardens. You can go anywhere in the forest as long as it’s in a 700-yard radius. The time limit for the game is one hour. We will play three games. Are those rules clear to you?”

“““““““YUP!”””””””

“Well then, I’ll be the seeker for this first turn. Get ready! Go!”

As soon as I said “Go!” , I heard the sounds of the ground being dug up, as well as the sounds of large bodies running away from me.

“One…. two….. three…..”

I have an idea for how I’m going to find them. It’s actually a very simple way to win, in my opinion. I won’t need henchmen, nor will I need any help from anyone else to quickly find all of the hiders. 

“..... twenty-six……. twenty-seven…… twenty-eight…… twenty-nine…… THIRTY! Ready or not, here I come!”

To start my plan, I first went out of the stable and to the very center of our property. I then used the Earth Magic [Build]. To use it, I had to think of the soil being blown by the wind and piling up. That was one way that hills formed. However, in this case I didn’t need a hill. I needed a tower. 

The imaginary soil in my mind was blown by the wind into a tower shape. The tower had a staircase coming down from the side of it. When I finished thinking about the spell, I opened my eyes. There, I was greeted by the sight of an eighty-meter tower. (A/N: Leaning tower of Pisa, without the leaning part. *Wink*.)

I saw a staircase coming down from the left side of the tower. I smiled to myself in appreciation of the creation I had just made. Of course, I also felt as if something inside of was drained by a bit. A very minuscule amount was drained, but I still noticed. As I held these thoughts, I started walking up the staircase. It’s going to be a long way up, but I’ll take it slow and steady since I’ll be able to find everyone really quickly. 

The thing that I noticed which drained by a bit was my magic power. The feeling of using up some magic power was quite unusual and is pretty hard to describe. Of course, the magic power that I used up didn’t come from the mana surrounding my soul, but the mana that I’d drawn in from the surroundings. Still, I used up a bit of mana to do that. 

Just like when something uses energy to just move, trying to draw in mana also costs a bit of mana. Think of it as a payment that a traveler may give a person who helped them move from a place to another place. (A/N: Taxi and a passenger. That’s the simile. The mana used up is just like the money you pay to the driver for giving you a ride.) 

The feeling I felt was a small bit of tiredness and a bit of pain. This is happening because of the spell that I cast. The magic spell [Build] is a magic that is listed into many categories. [Build] can be used to transform water into anything, fire, metal, wind, etc.. So, in technicality, it can cause anything to change shape from any type of magic. The way that magic is categorized is by what it affects. 

That is the reason why magic that affects the water is named “Water Magic”. Sure, Wind Magic could also affect water, but it doesn’t directly affect water. The most Wind Magic can affect water is by causing the wind to blow over the water or making the wind do something to the water. See, it’s the wind that’s affecting the water, not the magic. The magic spell [Build] can be used for any element and is considered to be of the Creation Type of magic. 

Creation Type Magic is magic that can go into all categories of basic magic. As you know, the basic elements are water, fire, earth, holy, and darkness. In a book that I read before, it said that if you combine all five basic elements, you can use Creation Type Magic. Creation Type Magic has many different divisions, just like how Dark Magic has the subdivision of Space-time Magic. The most well-known subdivision of Creation Magic is Body Strengthening Magic. As for the reason that Creation Magic is called what it is, it’s because a myth from years ago told of a magic that could create living things. The myth said that the magic could manipulate every element. 

Those elements were used to create bodies for creatures. Then, the mage that used the Creation Type Magic went to Reincarnation to ask for lifeforce to put into the bodies that the mage created. Reincarnation asked for something of equal value. To satisfy Reincarnation, the mage gave entertainment in the form of magic tricks. The magic tricks were all created using Creation Type Magic and gave Reincarnation enjoyment. Reincarnation itself could use the magic, but it was much more enjoyable to watch someone else use magic. It was said that the mage pleased Reincarnation so much that they got to live in its palace. There, the mage had an endless number of souls to put into their creatures.

Eventually, Reincarnation fell in love with the mage, because it loved the mage’s attitude, strength, and pride. The factor of having been living under the same roof for many years also shouldn’t be put aside. After about a thousand years of being with the mage, Reincarnation confessed. The mage accepted Reincarnation’s love and later got married with it. They had two children, who were said to be the first god and goddess. 

The god and goddess later got married with the elves and gave life to the race of humans. Because they still held a lot of pure blood from the god and goddess, some humans were born as demi-gods. The demi-gods could live for far longer than regular mortals. In some cases, the children born between the god and goddess between the elves were born as gods. 

The god and goddess had many partners, numbering over six billion. Over seven billion children had the god and goddess as parents. One of their parents was always an elf and another was a god/goddess. It became a common thing for creatures to have more than one spouse, following the first god and goddess’s example. 

Many gods were born because of the many partners the first Immortals had. However, double the number of humans were born, as well! Those humans were considered as the ancestors of humans today. The humans today are much weaker than the ancestors because of the diluted Immortal blood in our veins. (A/N: I’ll just call the First God and Goddess the “Immortals”. The other gods that were born as their kids will be called gods and goddesses.)

After about seven hundred billion years after the Immortals were born and their children with the elves were given lives to, the population of gods and mortals had balanced. There were three races in the world: The humans, demi-gods, the gods, and the elves. The humans were the most powerful race, having been the species created when the almighty gods and elves became partners. The demi-gods were considered a species that wasn’t completely human nor god. 

Then, all of a sudden, all demi-gods and gods disappeared from the universe! No one knew the reason for why they disappeared, nor did they know where the gods and demi-gods went off to. All of a sudden, only the elves and humans were left. To secure the population, they had to become partners. The offspring created from that was neither human nor elf. It was beastmen. 

Elves were beautiful and powerful. Their distinct feature was their long ears, and their specialized use of all elements of magic. The humans were different and came in different forms. Some were rough-looking, while others looked delicate. They did not have an ability to use all the elements of magic but were the ones that could master them the most. Their redeeming qualities were reproduction capabilities. While the chance of an elf having a child was only 40%, humans had a probability of about 80%. 

The beastmen that were born had fluffy ears and tails. They could see better in the darkness than the humans, and their hearing was better than the elves. Their only flaw was that their reproduction was very bad, only having a 20% chance of having a child. 

Another million years passed, and the bloodline of the Immortals was getting weaker and weaker. Then, somehow monsters and animals were created. Everyone thinks that this was the work of the gods and demi-gods that had left. 

More species were created, such as the dragon race, the serpent race, the mermaid race, the demon race, etc.. These races were at the same strength as the humans and the elves. After another five hundred billion years, is the present time. The blood of the Immortals is very faint in our bloodlines. Because of our incredible reproductive systems, humans have become the leading race in the world. 

We have created kingdoms, republics, inventions, and many other things. However, we are nothing at all compared to the Ancient Humans. The ancestors of us humans were much stronger than what we are right now. As of this moment, no race has a pure bloodline that still holds the direct blood of the Immortals. If they did, they would automatically become the strongest race in the world. 

You could say that it was because of Creation Type Magic that humans came to be. Without it, the mage wouldn’t’ve been able to entertain Reincarnation. That wouldn’t lead to Reincarnation’s love to sprout for the mage. No one knows what gender the mage was, nor what gender Reincarnation was. They aren’t dead, since we are still dying and being born. At least, Reincarnation isn’t dead. 

Oh! Look at that! I’ve gotten to the top of the brown tower! I guess I should start phase two of my plan for finding the hiders. My plan heavily relies on magic, just so you know. 

I first use the Wind Magic [Breeze] and mix it with the Fire Magic [Heat]. To mix the two magics together, I had to imagine a flame being started. I then had to imagine that the flame was spreading wider and wider, eventually merging with the wind. After that, the wind had to be blown and covered an area. When I felt the area around me start to have a warm, gentle breeze I opened my eyes. 

“Good,” I murmured to myself. 

Let me tell you something more about magic. These are the things that Feeh taught me while I was learning the Principles of Nature. Magic is something that you move according to your will. Magic obeys your command, thinking that you are the core of the dimension, since you are using spells which are related to magic words. The magic words are directly linked to the core of the dimension. Since magic technically follows the dimension core’s commands, you can command it to basically do anything.

However, you need a link. That link is the magic spell you cast. So, since the core of the dimension controls magic, shouldn’t it be able to see what the magic is doing? The core can make wind blow in a certain way, and can make the sun rise at the correct time. It can even control the soil so that crops may have a good harvest or a bad one. To do that, if we’re thinking logically, it needed to move. 

But the core can’t move. Then how does it monitor the dimension? The answer to that question is….. magic! Magic seems to be the correct answer to this question. How exactly is it the answer? It’s because the caster of magic can completely control its movements. Most people don’t know why, and that is why they haven’t completely learned to control magic. You can monitor what the magic sees, touches, or even interacts with! Magic is basically your third eye!

That is why using the Wind Magic [Breeze] with the Fire Magic [Heat] was an easy way to win the game of hide and seek. I could see where the things that the breeze went past were. The reason for why I wanted a warm breeze was because a warm breeze has a lower density than a cold breeze. The warm breeze allowed it to travel past more things without causing too much of a noticeable change. The low density made sure that the things the wind hit didn’t feel some pressure. The monsters have an amazing instinct that makes them able to get out of danger very quickly. I really don’t want them to notice me doing this.

Then why am I standing on a tower that is more than eighty meters? It doesn't really matter even if the tower was over six hundred meters high! The trees in our forest are all over a thousand meters tall! (A/N: That is about a hundred and seventy-two meters taller than the tallest building in the world right now. The tallest building is called the Burj Khalifa.) Besides, the tower has no use at all except for looking flashy! Heheheh! What’s the point of having a large amount of magic if you can’t use it flashily?

Oooo! I found two people! Let’s see, mhmm, they are the…. Lendren Runner twins. Another one! That is ...Diffy! Why’s he alone? This must be a trap! I will first find the others first! Hmm…… okay! Found three of the Piffy Lug siblings.  Six people have been found. Only one more person to go! Who is it?

 The Lendren Runners have already been found, so cross them off the list. Diffy has also been found, so cross him off. The three other Piffy Lugs I found were Miffy, Tiffy, and Laurine. That only leaves Giffy! Better be careful, since Giffy is the craftiest of all of the siblings. He’s the one who usually does the most pranks on people and can find the most loopholes around the rules. (A/N: The “Gi” in “Giffy” is pronounced just like the “g” in “age”.)

Where could Giffy be? Let’s check about a foot above the ground since that was a rule. Hmmmmmm……. there is no one! Could Giffy have cheated? Nah! The Piffy Lugs will not cheat in a game, ever. It was because of an unofficial rule created amongst them. If someone were to ever cheat in a game, no one will challenge that person to a game for a month. Then where could he be?

He must’ve found a loophole, but what was it? As I ran thoughts through my mind, I noticed that the monsters had started to fidget! Oh no! This is probably their instincts kicking it! I need to find Giffy before they move from their spots! Quick, mind! Quick! Think!

After trying really hard, I realized that there was a loophole in the rules that I‘d missed! When I said that everyone had to be at least a foot above the ground, I didn’t say that the ground surrounding them had to be the same height as the rest of the ground! He could’ve made something like a moat with the land in the middle being a smaller height than the surrounding area. Then Giffy could’ve made a hole in the middle area and have put two feet of his three foot body underground! If the middle of the moat was about a foot below the surrounding area, his body wouldn’t be above ground at all! It would be on the surface of the surrounding ground!

 (A/N: Kinda confusing so I’ll try to explain it in a simpler way. *Math Teacher Voice on* So, we know that Giffy is a three-foot-tall monster, right? Because of Cadmar’s rule, he needed to have at least one foot of his body above ground. That means that he could be two feet underground, but one foot of his body would be above the surrounding ground, right? Now, imagine the land being a circle. Suddenly, a wide, circular line is drawn around the middle of the circle. That separates the outer circle from the inner circle, right? It’s kind of like a moat, the line being the water! Giffy could’ve made the middle circle be a foot shorter than the surrounding circle. The circle is the ground so it is caved in by a foot more than the surroundings. After that, Giffy could have dug two feet of his body into the ground so that one foot remained above ground. However, compared to the surrounding area, he would be at the same land level as it. I hope that allowed you to understand. If it didn’t….. welp!)

I quickly made the breeze go into everything in the ground. After a while, I saw a part of the ground that didn’t have anything in it. Then, a piece of land was in the middle of the ground, with a Piffy Lug on it! I found him! Now, I just need to use the Dark Magic [Shadow Movement] to get to them! I’ll explain what it is later! Right now, I need to get to everyone before they start moving! 

I sunk into the ground and went to the monsters!

A/N: Kind of a cliffhanger, but I don’t have any more time to write! I don’t want to do it later and add more things later because I’ve composed a schedule for myself! I finish a chapter every two days! Now for the fun fact:

“Men have nipples because everyone is a female until the Y chromosome kicks in! The Y chromosome is the gene that determines if you are a male or a female. It causes male “things” to develop both “externally” and internally. One more fact! The world’s longest recorded engagement lasted for sixty-seven years! The engaged couple decided to go through with it when they were both eighty-two years old! The reason for the long wait was because the couple kept putting the wedding off. The main person putting it off was the husband. That is why you should just accept the engagement, boys and girls! Better to take the plunge when you are still young rather than when you have less than thirty years until you die!” advised CadmarLegend-Senpai to his readers.

I need to go! My computer is running out of battery, so yeah! Ciao!