[Spring, Year 1612]
Two child figures walked together toward the forest holding hands.
After walking far enough for the married couple to not be able to see them from inside the hut, Yuki spoke up, "Little demon, let go. They can't see us anymore."
"Urgh, don't call me that you leech!" Xavier let go of Yuki's hand, wiping the hand he held Yuki with a handkerchief as he made a face of disgust.
Despite despising every interaction he has with Yuki, Xavier liked to keep his image of being a good son in front of his parents clean. His flawless acting never raised any suspicions.
"Walk faster, will you?" Xavier said, turning to look at the distance between him and Yuki.
Yuki sighed, speed walking to catch up to Xavier who's a whole head taller than her.
— — —
A half hour walk later, a large plain full of white petals of flowers came into view. Beyond those flowers is a dense pine forest. Compared to the two children, the heights of these trees are awfully frightening, letting barely any sunlight through.
Xavier continued to walk toward the forest, showing no signs of stopping.
"Didn't your parents say it's dangerous over there?" Yuki paused, unwilling to move.
"Who cares? It's fine!" Xavier, despite Yuki's worries, dragged her with him, entering the eerie forest full of dark pine trees.
Yuki, with no other choice, sighed like an elderly would with a 'this can't be helped' expression and followed Xavier.
Not long after entering the forest, the two arrived at a small river. Xavier finally let go of Yuki and...
"Wha—" The last thing Yuki saw was Xavier's mischievous smile. She was pushed into the stream of water and landed on a bunch of wet sand and pebbles with a big splash.
Before either of the two could react, they were startled by a loud, disturbing noise.
HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!
"What was that??" Xavier jumped, his smile wiped off his face, eyes widening when he saw the figure of a ten foot dark green viper. Its eyes glowed a bright red color, its forked tongue flicking in and out, slithering toward the two slowly, just like a predator would slowly move, locking its eyes on its prey.
Xavier's plan was to scare Yuki and teach her a lesson by pushing her into the stream of water. He knew the river was not too deep around this area, and he never intended for any life threatening events to occur. Just what was his luck? He's been around this area before, and has never saw a single predator. Deadly monsters only appear deeper inside the forest. How could they encounter the deadliest monster in this big forest, especially a dangerous, enormous one at that?
Looking closer, Xavier noticed a crown shaped scale on the viper's forehead.
"It can't be..." Xavier fell, unable to move his legs.
The crown indicated that this monster is probably one of the strongest, if not the strongest, of this forest. Why would it appear here, now?
Yuki cautiously got up, drenched in water. She looked around, finding a broken branch the size of her arm. Yuki did not know anything about the monsters here, but she instinctively knew they could not escape if they ran now. She needs to do something, and fast.
Yuki grabbed the branch, applying what she learned from reading the book, The Basics of How to Use Ivrent, by Vander Ivrent, Xavier "lost." Although she secretly practiced imbuing on mainly small items around their home and has a good idea on how to use this power, she never imbued ivrent into any item larger than her palm before.
'This needs to work...!' Deeply in concentration, she focused on what she wants the branch to do, imbuing the branch with ivrent.
The viper approached steadily, targeting Xavier. All this happened in seconds, the suspense building up before its tail wrapped around his left leg, lifting Xavier, causing him to be hanged upside down with ease.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Xavier screamed, almost fainting when he felt the viper's forked tongue lick his cheek.
Getting a front view seat of the viper, Xavier saw its eerie purple venom dripping from its two, sharp fangs.
If he is bitten, it will be the end of him for sure. If not from an instant death from being bitten by those large fangs, he would either bleed to death or die from its deadly poison.
Right before the fangs bit into Xavier, Yuki threw the branch at the viper like a spear. Wind surrounded the branch, causing the branch to speed through the air with an insane speed, strong enough to pierce the viper's stomach. When the branch moved, a whoosh could be heard, and every time it came in contact with the viper, ice formed in that area.
SCREEEEEEECH!!
The viper screeched in pain, thrashing, letting go of Xavier. Xavier fell to the ground with a thump, shocked by what he was seeing. He could not believe this. Is he dreaming?
The branch continuously pierced the viper, moving in an orbit-like movement, piercing the viper from all directions in swift movements. The breeze turned cold as ice formed wherever the viper was pierced.
Yuki ran to Xavier, dragging him away from the danger. The two watched carefully at a distance.
The branch pierced the viper for what seemed like a hundred times before the branch did its last move, stabbing the viper's head from above, causing a bright light to shoot high up into the sky and its surroundings. Cold wind blew into Yuki's and Xavier's face for a good few seconds.
When the two opened their eyes, they saw a giant pillar of ice, probably around 10 meters high, freezing not only the stream but also the trees, plants, and nature near the dead, frozen viper.
With a clink, a rhombus shaped red gem dropped from the viper, sunlight reflecting on not just the gem, but also the ice.
Yuki tried to move, but her shoes were frozen in the ground. Both Yuki and Xavier decided to take off their shoes to free themselves. Yuki quickly ran to pick up the gem as Xavier held onto a tree, trying to muster some strength into his weak legs.
After pocketing the gem, Yuki helped Xavier, the two walking barefoot back home after a crazy, almost life-threatening event.