Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

Not long after the Treants left, only a few minutes after the complaints of the Coconut Treant had faded from Wolfe’s hearing, the answer to the question that he had been wondering about the state of the monsters in the area was answered.

A large Dire Bear appeared at the edge of his vision, extended by [Detect Hidden].  The Dire Bear, a brutally vicious species, which spared no opportunity to attack and didn’t stop attacking until its target was in multiple bloody pieces, had simply growled at a scout that had been unfortunate enough to stumble across it.

If he hadn’t taken off running, the Dire Bear would have likely mauled him, the same as always, but letting him run was a vast improvement on the bear’s usual personality.

“Mister Wolfe, there is a Dire Bear in the vicinity. We should tell everyone so that they can run.” The Scout panted as he ran up to the shack.

“There is no need. The forest is calming the animals back to their normal states. I saw the interaction, but before I could do anything, you were running, and it didn’t bother to follow you. It only growled in your direction.

The Dire Bears are still going to be incredibly vicious, but now they’re a bit more like the Rhinos, and they’re only attacking things that actually bother them.” Wolfe explained.

The scout cast a fearful glance behind him, certain that the Dire Bear would still be following behind him, but today, there was nothing. The woods were silent, and only the noise of small birds and the wind could be heard through the branches.

“That is incredible. I wonder if that will stop the animals from swarming to attack us. That would save so many villagers.” He cheered quietly, still somewhat certain that the bear could hear him.

“It will be a big change for everyone. But now that we have such a great forest to defend us, I think it’s time that we started to expand our Den. It’s not like we need to worry about humans seeing a building from kilometres away anymore, so I think that we should build something above ground so that the witches and everyone else can start to live in the fresh air again.

That was the greatest part of moving out here to the Frozen Wastes. I finally got to breathe fresh air, even if it was cold enough to burn my nose when I breathed in. Now, it’s warm and smells like a forest. It would be a shame not to move back outside if the Monsters are calming down enough to avoid things that would be a threat to them.”

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He wasn’t afraid to say so, either.

“I think it might be a bit premature to say that it’s safe to come up above ground yet. I mean, we haven’t seen most of the monsters, and who knows how everything else will react or how long this beautiful summer will last.

Maybe if you held off for a year, it would be long enough that we could be sure that it was safe to come out and live above ground. I know some of the guys were already talking about building tree houses if it was safe in this forest, but even though they’re squirrel types, they’re not brave enough to do it one day after the forest appeared.”

“You have a point. I may have been a bit hasty. I’m just excited to see things coming together so well, and looking forward to the possibilities that will let us move out into the world again instead of hiding away.

Can you feel it? The Curse of the Wastes is fading here in this area, and everything is starting to return to somewhat normal states. The monsters are becoming more like normal animals, though they’re still huge, and it looks like their magical power might actually be increasing.”

Wolfe paused. He likely shouldn’t have mentioned that last part. The scout looked pretty panicked.

“But if they’re less aggressive, and everything is getting more powerful, then the balance will still shift toward safer living here in the Fae Forest.” He finished.

“Well, you might have a point. I will let the others know what I saw today, and maybe they will have some luck. Usually, we don’t run away from a Dire Bear once it’s that close. It just makes you die tired. But I was so close to the Den that I was pretty sure I could make it to somewhere that a powerful witch or someone with enchanted ammunition could rescue me .” The scout reluctantly agreed.

Another scout came in just after that, proud of himself for learning to navigate so quickly, and dropped off a note about the happenings of the day.

“Thanks, Wolfe,” He nearly whispered, then stopped and turned around again.

“This is our favourite part of the day, watching everyone learn that they can speak around Witches at the Den. We’ve still got a load of healing vials, so grab one and a bite to eat before you leave.

That’s why we set up the entrance the way that we did so that we could freely distribute goods without arousing the suspicions of any outsiders who were watching.” The Witch on duty told him.

“That is incredible. I know that you guys went out of your way to help us all, but the healing vial payments for information were possibly the greatest idea ever. We all have at least one of them on us since they’re good for healing broken bones and deep cuts.

If the break is bad, it will still take time to heal, but it’s enough to keep it set, and then we can limp home on a splint and crutches and recover over the next few days.

You’re still newish here, so I’m not sure if you had ever seen how things were before Wolfe came to the Frozen Wastes. We barely came outside most of the time since the army was moving around all the time, and the monsters kept attacking us, so we were just hurting and starving until we were desperate enough to come out and attack them for supplies.”

The witch patted him on the head in sympathy, and the scout chuckled. “Is that a witch thing? I’m old enough to be your father, but I still get the head pats.”

Wolfe chuckled. “It totally is. They’re obsessed with fluffy things, and since two-thirds of you have furry ears, you all get head pats.”

“I should have guessed that. Even my mother still does it. It might be a thing in general about fluffy ears. The squirrel and fox tails get it, too, since they’re so soft. I dated a fox for a while in my younger years, and cuddling up with that tail was heavenly.” The scout agreed.

“It’s good that you understand because I’m pretty sure they’re not going to stop.”