Tales of Renova: A Prince's Pursuit of Worthiness

Chapter 5: Brains, Brawns and Bandits

(Again, not my background:))

3rd Person Pov:

Deep within the bright and sunny forest in the afternoon, soft taps were heard as a white deer strolled down the rocky yet leafy ground, searching for more food. It wandered around nature as the plants and trees swayed by the peaceful breeze. The head shifted to a side and glimpsed a small group of shrubs near a towering tree. The tree's immense size covers the shrubs in its shade, surrounded by grass. It quickly went through the grass. Its snout bent down against a shrub, presumably sniffing each one as if searching for something or inspecting it. Perhaps a specific part. Once the deer found it, it began to nibble on one of the leaves, chewing the food in silence. It consumed the material and went through the other shrubs to pick its next meal.

Suddenly, a rustle erupted from the grassy surroundings, followed by faint footsteps which disrupted the silence. The deer lifted its head almost instantly, followed by its ears pointing behind. It turned around and saw nothing, just grass and tall trees. The animal decided to follow the direction where the sound came from, aside from the little taps of its hooves.

At that moment, an unknown light glowed from one of the trees as a silhouette moved its hands, producing a more mysterious glow. The light turned into a magical bow and arrow. The figure aimed at the deer before shooting an arrow towards the unsuspecting deer at such velocity. It impaled the animal's leg, rendering it immobile. The deer jumped in surprise and immediately sprinted off before it got shot again. This time, the arrow hit on its body. The deer collapses to the ground as its life slowly vanishes, along with the glowing arrows that turn into magical sparkles.

A figure descended from the tall tree, revealing a tall man with a long, brown and white tail. A red mask covered half his face, with only his dark brown hair and careful silver eyes visible. He slowly approached the animal lying lifeless on the ground, its blood slowly seeping out.

He raised an arm as a strange glow appeared on his hand. A green orb appeared out of his hand and floated on top of the lifeless animal as the object magically morphed into a strand of rope. With a little wave of the man's hand, the rope wrapped around the deer's body and tied it up, covering its open wounds and stopping the bleeding.

Another man appeared out of the grass and approached the other man's location. A tall, blue-haired demon had a look of tiredness on his face as if he didn't get enough sleep.

"There you are. I've been looking all over you." He stated promptly, catching the brunette's attention towards him before he resumed. "I guess you've finished your task for the day."

"Yes." He replied with a nod.

"Good to know." The man nodded in satisfaction before turning around. "Take that back to camp, and the rest will have that sorted out. My men and I will find a village to loot for valuables."

"Feel free to join us if you like."

The man walked away, his form disappearing into the swaying grass and bushes, leaving the brunette alone in the forest. With a sigh, he pivoted back towards the animal, bending to pick it up. He hoisted it over his shoulder and cast one backward glance before embarking on his journey back to the camp, his silhouette fading into the darker parts of nature.

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Meanwhile, The trio found themselves too exhausted to pursue longer and had to halt from resuming their journey. The afternoon is strangely chilly that day. So Raine and Zandra temporarily reside in a clearing within the forest while Scott insists on gathering more wood since a single fireball wouldn't be enough to sustain warmness. The crackle of the small campfire filled the silence of the air, and the dark smoke billowed into the sky.