The Path of a Black Sheep in a Fantasy World (BL)

Chapter 100

We made it to chapter 100 ! Wahou!

Slithering away in despair, Ash tried to find the two missing herbs. There was one shaped like a small bell, and one that looked like a sea urchin. It was the first thing that came to Ash's mind when he saw the second flower. When he was in the port to be sold as a slave in the past, he had seen a few of those strange spiky things being sold by sailors and learnt of their names.

He hoped the flower's petals weren't really sharp and only looked like it.

Just as he was about to exit a bush, Ash suddenly felt the said bush shake as if something was rummaging through it. Before he could escape, he saw the branches being separated above him and the light peeked in.

The shifter looked up, fearing that a wolf had found him, only to be greeted by his Papa's surprised face.

Ash froze, not understanding how they had met as they had parted ways in different directions. Fear took over as he remembered that he was still in his disgusting snake form. His Papa must not recognize him! Ash wasn't ready to be faced with such a situation.

Then, the snake felt even more fear as he realized that they had broken one of the rules of the trial. They had to travel alone and not meet any of their group's members! The snake panicked, fearing that he had made them fail their trial.

Hoping to fix the situation and that no one had seen them, Ash slithered away as fast as he could before Evan could catch him. The snake continued to run away even as he didn't hear any sound indicating that the giant was following him, it was better to put as much distance between them as possible.

After many minutes of pushing his small body to its limit, Ash finally had to stop to catch his breath.

Once he had calmed down, the snake analyzed his surroundings. He was in the middle of a forest that hadn't changed, but he was now standing at the bottom of a small cliff. Ash's eyes brightened as he remembered that the bell-like flower could be found in small crevices in cliffs.

His luck would really be awesome if he could find his second herb right there.

However, Ash quickly found out that he may have been too enthusiastic. He was still in his snake form, and even if he tried to elongate as much as he could to be taller, his small muzzle didn't even reach the first crevice. Ash truly felt like crying. He hated his snake form so much, and not being able to turn back into a human was killing him. Now, it was even keeping him from completing his trial.

The sun was already setting down and he would need to find shelter soon. The trial would end tomorrow, he didn't have that much free time.

The snake slithered left and right before the cliff, anxiously trying to find a solution. He absolutely needed to shift back now.

Just as Ash thought of the urgency of the situation, he found himself on all four, the herb in his now much bigger mouth. The shifter blinked to accommodate his new vision and then looked down at his human body.

He had shifted?

Well, that was weird. It almost felt like an accident, it was the first time Ash shifted without his control. It also made him anxious because it meant he could shift at any moment without meaning to. That could be dangerous. Now, however, the priority was the trial. He could worry about the rest later.

Ash stood on his tip toe as he looked in the crevices, looking for the flower. The ones near the floor were empty, which wasn't surprising because animals would have eaten it. It was a good smelling purple flower that had healing and strengthening properties, so animals were fond of it.

Finally, Ash sniffed out the flower a few feet away from where he was, in a high crevice. He put his small hand in it, standing on the ball of his feet as he tried to reach it.

"P-please... Just a little m-more..." Ash grunted as he felt the flower with the tip of his finger. He stretched his whole body and finally felt his fingers grasp the flower. He pulled it out as delicately as he could.

Looking down at the small bell-like flower now in his hand, along with the SilverFlame one, Ash felt a grin take over his face.

He only had one herb left!

The snake put the two herbs in the pouch at his waist preciously, patting the couch tenderly after closing it. It was his ticket to a normal life with his family.

The last herb took a little more time to find, hiding in a thorny bush. Ash shifted back involuntarily two more times before finding it, but when he reached the flower in his human form, he couldn't force the shift to avoid injuring himself on the thorn. Now, the shifter was hurrying closer to the village, the three herbs in his pouch, but his hands and arms were bleeding out and burning from all the small cuts.

Ash had always found it weird how he had no problem healing others, but healing himself was much more cumbersome. Even small injuries like those would drain him up and make him sleepy for hours, which he couldn't afford in this situation, so he chose to bear with it instead.

The sun was setting down quicker than he would reach the village, so Ash chose to rest in a small deserted cave. He could feel that it had no habitant, and it was perfect for his human and snake form if he shifted in his sleep.

The shifter curled up in the corner, shivering from the cold, but accustomed to it.

He had forgotten how cold it could get at night with how warm his family had been recently. Finding himself alone in the forest at night was a harsh wake up call, but Ash found it necessary. His peace wouldn't last eternally, and he had better be ready when he would have to part ways with his new parents and brother.

Even more so when that time could be even closer than he had first thought because of his uncontrollable shifting.

Hey dear readers, Ash is having sad thoughts :/

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(1 070 words)