The Return of the Beast Princess

Chapter 18 - First step

Three days have already passed and all she can hear from the cave are loud bangs and crashes. She was a bit worried for she felt that Dumu was trashing around the cave from the pain of shedding. But what can she do? It's a natural for them snakes to shed to grow. All she can do now is wait for him patiently as she promised.

It took her longer than expected to fully recover the mana that she has lost from creating rune formations. On the brighter side, she felt more stronger for she can practice again from all the hauls of crystals that Dumu was keeping.

She can only use the green ones though for its link with earth. She can use red too but her innate link with fire is uncontrollable. She normally uses her healing ability to suppress the violent surge of her fire link. Her father is the one who helps her control this when she suffers too much. But now that she is in a different world and her father is not here, she can only double the mana reserve for the suppression. Meaning she has to absorb nature's energy more frequently than before.

Accidents have happened when she can't control the fire surging in her body. Because of the unstable flow of the fire energy, not only can it damage her body, but the fire that her whole being emit can cause an explosion that can be compared to a bomb. She even destroyed their whole mansion when she was fifteen. Good thing all of the people inside the mansion got to get out before she burst into flames.

That's one reason why her father is always with her. In case this happens to Asha, he would create a big space for her to be enclosed so there will be no casualties nor damage to her surroundings.

She's probably lucky though for she can heal her own body to heal all her wounds and burns from her own fire surge. It just takes a lot of time and mana to fully recuperate.

This is also the reason why she always makes sure she doesn't run out of mana. It would be a disaster for her and for everyone and everything around her.

She began roasting two rabbits that she caught right outside her barrier while looking at the enclosed cave. She can feel small tremors from Dumu's thrashing inside it. She sighed for the nth time.

It's taking longer as expected. It's not that I want to just leave him here and continue with exploring all by myself. He is a wandering beast man for a long time. He'll be a good guide for me while exploring this world. Andddd I also made a promise and I never intend to break it. I just need to find some things that I can do to kill time.

What Dumu said before made her think. He will make her clothes that can help her blend in with the beast men in this world. He has a point though for all her clothes would make her stand out. She needs to adapt and change a bit so she can avoid unwanted attention.

She can feel that Dumu has already observed her and found some things are very different. He is just that type of person orrrr beast man that will mind his own business. He was dropping hints here and there telling her that he is aware of everything. And when he said he's going to make her clothes, that was a warning for her that she needs to stop doing stuff that can catch the eyes of other beast men.

Old Harac was right, I need to be careful for not all beast men are good. Haven't I learned that the hard way back in my world.

It would be too eye-catching if I just pull out stuff from my secret space, plus all the stuff would be new and different from other beast men.

She remembers Dumu asking her stuff about her things that she keeps using. It's pretty obvious that this world is living in a prehistoric era. How far are they off? She guess it's still in the early stages for Dumu is scared of fire. And from what he said before, many beast men dies during winter aka dead season.

She sighed.

"It will be very hard to pretend that I don't know anything at all. First step would be to act dumb? Nah, that would be difficult! I would be itching everytime I wanna do something that would be easier...."

She was toying with the charcoal formed under her roasting rabbits when she heard the lovely clicking sounds of the bamboos. Nature really has a way of calming her nerves.

Wait a minute! That's it!

She looked at the swaying bamboo trees as she tries to recall everything that she have read and watched about bamboos. She even remembered how her father taught her how to use them as cooking tools while they were out camping before.

"I can make a lot of stuff from bamboos. It might catch some attention from other beast men if they saw me and Dumu using those but it would be better than using all my stuff from my space.

Plus, we can sell extra stuff that I can make from those. It can give the both of us the perfect disguise as we travel and explore. Ashanti Bridges, you are a genius!"

She quickly put out the fire and run to the bamboo trees. She was smiling as she touches every bamboo with love and care.

"My dear friends, please allow me to use some of your precious bamboos. I promise that for every bamboo tree I get and use, I will plant twice as much so not to destroy your humble forest."

As if agreeing, one by one, the bamboos fell down on the ground. They keep on piling up when Asha stopped the other falling bamboos using her mana.

"No more my friends. That would be enough already."

She looked at the pile of bamboos on the ground while she slowly put her hands on the ground itself and chanted some words that made the whole ground covered with green aura. Small bamboo canes steadily grew and covered the area.

She stood up as she smiles looking at the new sprouts.

If I ever found a good place to stay, I promise I'm gonna plant bamboos and even coconut trees. That would make my life here easier.