The next day, Alex woke up early while it's still dark outside. The moon was still hanging in the sky, and Alex can hear occasional Wolf howls from far away.

The little bird was still sleeping on the rocky pedestal. Alex got ready and meditated in the serene environment.

Soon, the sun rose on the horizon, and his little cave brightened. Alex opened his eyes and started his day. He walked towards the red bird and caressed its head. The little red bird slowly opened its eyes and looked at him.

"It's morning, time to go to school," said Alex. The bird did not peck him like usual, which made him a little happy.

'Maybe the taming experiment did not fail after all,' thought Alex.

Alex lit the stove and barbecued the meat. Eating the same meal and doing the same boring exercise every day was getting on his nerves.

Alex wanted to leave this place and explore the vast outside world. Yet, he was sure he would not survive outside of this crater. Alex still needed time to improve his strength and Mana proficiency.

Alex sighed as he constantly adjusted the meat.

The bird flew down and landed on his shoulder and chirped as it observed the meat being barbecued. Alex smiled broadly. Just as he was about to praise it, a gust of wind blew in the cave.

'What the heck?' thought Alex as he turned around to find the cover of vines blew away, and the cave entrance opened wide.

Soon a huge Blue Eagle landed at the entrance. Its claws clasped the edge of the entrance and the huge blue wings closed. Its sharp eyes watched Alex and the little bird.

The Blue Eagle slowly walked into the cave. This Blue Eagle was as tall as he was and can barely fit through the entrance. However, it kept staring at Alex.

As they looked at the scene, both the little bird and Alex were dumbfounded. Alex's throat became dry and coughed involuntarily. He glanced around and found his Glock-19 a few feet away.

Before Alex can do anything, the little bird reacted first and escaped inside the cave. Alex wanted to scold, but then the Blue Eagle also followed inside. Alex slightly relaxed and went for the Glock-19. The cold metal in his hand felt reassuring.

"Hey, what are you doing, crashing into other people's cave?" said Alex, pointing the gun at the Blue Eagle. Even Alex did not know where he got his courage.

The Blue Eagle did not care about Alex and screeched at the Little guy. After some time, the little guy also screeched back. This exchange happened few times.

Are they talking to each other?  Is that a bird language or an eagle language?

Alex relaxed as he noticed that the intruder was not hostile. He sat back and adjusted the meat.

Alex observed the eagle closely. The bird was as tall as him but did not look bulky. The eagle was sharp like a sword and had a beautiful sky blue color.

Is that a female Blue Eagle? Alex then saw the little bird with its red and blue colors randomly mixed.

Is she the little guy's mother?

Alex saw the both of them quarreling in the bird language.

'These birds are really intelligent,' thought Alex.

Alex diligently adjusted the meat while secretly peeking at them. Suddenly, the screeching stopped and the Blue Eagle turned its head and stared at Alex.

Alex coughed slightly to cover his nervousness. He slowly got up and showed a charming smile. His height was the same as the eagle. The Blue Eagle inspected him from head to toe, Alex became somewhat self-conscious.

He wore Military boots, a camouflage jacket, a black T-shirt, and jeans. Although his clothes were a little shabby, he was still presentable.

"Hello, Welcome to my humble abode. My name is Alex, and you must be the little guy's sister," said Alex, while smiling as naturally possible. Alex never imagined he would flatter a bird one day.

But what came next made him agape.

"Human, Thank you for taking care of my son, Varis." said the Blue Eagle.

Alex's subsequent dialogue would be: 'You are welcome, but you look like his sister, Mam.'

But this time, Alex froze. He looked at the Blue Eagle with his mouth open but soon adjusted his mentality. 

'Ah, this should be one of the advanced applications of Mana. This planet surprises him at every turn.' Alex thought.

"It... It's my responsibility," said Alex getting a grip.

"Oh, You look surprised. Don't you know about our Magic Beast race abilities?"

"Of..of course," said Alex.

"Hmm, You are full of paradoxes, human. You are intelligent and yet not knowledgeable. You are talented in Magic and but still at Rookie-level. You are too weak, yet appeared in the middle of the Dark forest. I am curious about your background," said the Blue Eagle as its sharp eyes observed Alex from top to bottom.

Alex felt as if he asked for a job and the business lady at the desk scanned him. But he still replied smoothly.

"Haha, thank you for your compliment. It's all god's grace," said Alex, as he remembered his Uncle Jack's reply to his grandma's inquiry: "Jack, you look cultured, but you are a selfish jerk."

"Well, since you don't want to tell, I will not embarrass you. As a reward for helping my son Varis, I am going to give you a bit of advice."

"Please say it," said Alex while having a bad premonition.

"You should leave this Howling crater immediately, or you might lose your little life."

Alex's thoughts immediately jumped, and he quickly thought of the reasons.

"Is it the wolves? Did they notice my recent activity?" asked Alex tentatively.

After all, to preserve the meat, he smoked the meat for one whole day. Even the most simple-minded creatures are bound to find some clues.

"You got something wrong. It's not just your recent behavior both the Sky eagles and Demonic wolves noticed your presence from the first day you appeared here."

"What!? How is that possible." Alex could not remain calm anymore.  The Blue Eagle looked at the camouflage suit made out of vines and smiled.

"It's a good tool, but the demonic wolves do not need to see you as they can smell you from a mile. As for us Sky Eagles, with our excellent vision, we can clearly see your outline through the vines."

Alex pondered what she said. His camouflage turned out to be a joke in front of these high-level beasts. Then he asked the main question.

"Why didn't they take any action?" asked Alex. He did not believe that the wolves and the eagles are so kind to let him stay.

"They are waiting for the cubs to grow. You are too weak anyway."

Alex's skin crawled as he remembered the dream when he first came. He dreamt of a bunch of wolf cubs hunting him. It turned out the morning dreams do come true.

As he was pondering the information, Alex heard the eagle speak again.

"Well, as you helped my son, I can help you once. If you want to leave, I can tell you a secret way out of the crater.  And do not think the opening in the cliff is safe. "

Alex woke up from his reverie.

"I can't leave yet. Although it's dangerous here, the outside is much more dangerous. I have to increase my strength before leaving outside."

The Blue Eagle stared at him intently and said: "Well, you have seven days before you make a decision."

She then turned back and flew away. The little guy Varis flew to his head and chirped.

"You don't have to worry. I will gain strength and leave quickly," said Alex, as he rubbed its head.

Then an Eagle cry came from outside, and Varis flew away reluctantly. Alex saw the meat about to be burnt and quickly removed it from the stove.

Alex sat there deep in thought. He thought this place was a paradise, but it turned out to be his cage.