20 Years Ago
“Samoa, did you see those prints,” within the Enchanted Forest, a handsome young man was hiding within some bushes with his friend. He looked anxious and weary, just like anyone who entered the Enchanted Forest and saw what they had. The man’s name was Joe.
“I did Joe. A creature of such power is terrifying.” Right beside the handsome young man was another good looking youngster. This young man looked very similar to Village Head Samoa, only several years younger. This was because this was indeed Village Head Samoa. At least, this was him when he was younger and still inexperienced.
“We must get back to the village and let them know what we have found out. The number of creatures has grown by large amount. And added to that terrifying creature…” Joe wiped the sweat off his forehead and spoke anxiously.
An Overflow. That was the greatest fear of all who lived close to an Enchanted Fores
“More like it waited for us here.” “It wasn’t distracted by the Giant Rat King’s urine,” Joe started to back off when the snake stared at him. He was afraid. Yes, he was afraid. And who wouldn’t be when faced with a beast of renown like the Giant Black Mamba. The Giant Black Mamba was a Magical Beast belonging to the family of snakes – a group of powerful Magical Beasts that were serpents. The Giant Black Mamba was a high Class Magical Beast with amazing physical abilities. It wasn’t like average High Class Magical Beasts like the Banshee that could be thwarted with careful planning. It was so strong that it was capable of going against Mythic Class Magical Beasts, and there were even instances of it killing of some weaker Mythic Class Magical Beasts. With such prowess, some people rated it as a Mythic Class Magical Beast. The only reason why this rating wasn’t accepted by Adventurers worldwide was because for a Magical Beast to be regarded as a Mythic Class, it had
Samoa wished he could see who the surprise intruder was, but the large snake in front of him restricted his view.“Stop yapping and let’s get this over with,” another voice added. This voice was different from the owner of the voice who had prevented the Giant Black Mamba from turning Samoa and Joe into snake chow. Samoa turned to the direction of the voice and noticed a robust middle aged man standing upright on a tiny tree branch. The branch was so tiny that Samoa believed that even a gust of wind should have been enough to bring it down. Was the branch stronger than it looked? Or was the person using it as a stand an impressive specimen of a New Type?Samoa recognized the tree. As a Scouter he knew much about the Enchanted Forest so he knew what that tree was. It was one of the most common kinds of trees one could find in the outer region and wasn’t spectacular in any way. It was weak, and all it was good for was to serve as kindling for fire
Samoa and Joe were marveled by the sight that was before them. Several broken down trees; large craters that were created by the large head of the Giant Black Mamba from Rash Tiger’s constant smashing; and the most magnificent sight of them all – the body of a Giant Black Mamba hoisted on a half broken tree. They saw for themselves what a Predator level powerhouse was capable of doing. The creature that was proclaimed to be one of the strongest under the Mythic Class level and was even capable of going against some weaker Mythic Class Magical Beasts was helpless before a Predator level powerhouse. The entire fight had been one-way. Rash Tiger pummeled the snake to the ground, and all it could do was try to survive just a bit longer. Before a powerhouse like Rash Tiger, the snake had nowhere to go. And even its earlier attempt to escape was foiled by Frowning Tiger. The man who wasn’t famed for his speed, showed exceptional speed to catch up to the Giant Black Mamba
“We need to get back,” Frowning Tiger said after a while.The Giant Black Mamba had been burned to a crisp. Normally the body of a Magical Beast with great armor-like skin, or in this case scales, like the Giant Black Mamba would have been treated like a treasure. It could have been used to create many tools and weapons. And its offal could have been sold to the nearby towns for an expensive sum. But such a treasure had been burnt alive, simply because it incurred the wrath of a few Tigers.“Yeah,” Rash Tiger, the only one of similar status who could speak freely with Frowning Tiger agreed with his words. His arms were wrapped around Joe’s shoulder and there was a jovial look about him.“Come Joe. You need to tell the Elders what you found out.” Rash Tiger stated and took the lead.“Yes Uncle,” Joe responded from underneath his uncle’s arm. Since Rash Tiger was so big, Joe looked like a helpless
“That’s impossible,” one of the Elders stood up and exclaimed. His face was full of fear, implying that it wasn’t that he didn’t find the information credible, but he didn’t want it to be.Several elders echoed his sentiment. Sweat formed on their foreheads as they tried to deny Samoa’s words. They didn’t want to believe it was true. They would rather Samoa say it was just a joke than to accept this as the truth. They would be so relieved if he was just joking around that they wouldn’t even punish him. But they weren’t going to get what they wanted. Samoa’s face was full of pain. His eyes were filled with unwillingness, and just like the elders he wished the information was false. He would accept any punishment for it to be. But it wasn’t. He had seen the evidence for himself. Three of his comrades had died because of this evidence, so there was no way his hopes would be met.The murmuring and reje
The village held a village meeting every week. These meetings were basically get-togethers, and the villagers spent time dancing and laughing with each other regardless of their status. Elders weren’t elders at that time, and the Village Head was also an average Joe during these meetings. If a Tiger was present at the meeting, he/she also would shed off that title for the night.The Ceremonial Fire was a bonfire that was lit to remember the sacrifices of the ancestors of the village. It served as a reminder to each generation that the village was standing because of the passionate sacrifices of those who came before. As the fire burned, an attendant constantly added kindling to keep it going. The tinder added represented the names of villagers who had lost their lives. Since each person died once, the fire burned for them once, and never again. But the Village Head was promising Samoa that the fire would burn for his friends forever. It was a great promise weightier tha
“An evacuation? Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?”An Elder asked.“I don’t think so Elder. We are up against an Overflow that is dangerous enough to destroy a major city. I think this is the most viable option”But Samoa disagreed. He didn’t think his suggestion was over the top. This was a threat the village wasn’t equipped to face. It was true that they possessed several Predators, and that 15 of these Predators were fearsome Tigers directly under the command of the Village Head; but it wasn’t enough.If one was to count every single Predator at the village’s disposal, there would be 24. 15 of them were Tigers, and fell directly under the jurisdiction of the Village Head. The other 9 were under the jurisdiction of the Elders. But they weren’t Tigers. The 9 under the Elders were Cheetahs, Snakes and Mongooses. It was only by becoming a Tiger that one would fall under the command of the Villa
Back in the meeting room, the Elders and Village Head Fan were still having a meeting. Samoa was nowhere to be found. This meeting wasn’t one that he could partake in. Frowning Tiger had left to call the other Predators. Since it was decided that the village wouldn’t be evacuating and that they would stay and fight as one, the Village Head and the Elders had to plan their defense.“The village has 24 Predators, 75 Thrashers, 295 Animal Hunters, and 400 Soldiers. We have to know how many are available.”Village Head Fan furrowed his brows and said. On the table before him was a board. There were several pieces on the board. Some of these pieces were white, others were green, some were red and the last color present was blue. The green pieces littered the board, and were the most of all the pieces. The white pieces came next when it came to number. The blue pieces were about quarter of the number of white pieces and the red pieces were the fewest,