In this world, humans are born with a special power called a Gift. We will follow the adventures of a young boy named Kayden Henildo, who does not have a single friend. Since his Gift is that of Creation, it could attract the greed of others.
From a very young age, and for another reason as well, he only studied and trained at home, at least to a certain extent. But in reality, he did not learn very much: how to read and write, a few geographical facts—notably the Kingdom of Kurataine, where he lives, and the city he resides in—and a few uses of his Gift. Those were only the bare minimum. Although he was somewhat more privileged than most children, he was far from receiving an elite or aristocratic education.
As a result, he spent all of his time alone, and being alone for so long made him somewhat socially awkward. Even so, he remained warm, generous, and kind to everyone.
For the past year, the young boy, now ten years old, had finally been allowed to leave the house. Over that year, he had developed a certain routine: waking up, getting dressed, going for walks—especially in a nearby forest. He lived his life however he pleased, and there was nothing extraordinary about that routine.
And one day, in that very same forest...
"It's almost time to head home."
As the sun was already about to set, a little black-haired boy lay sprawled across a tree branch, though no branch—regardless of the tree—should have been able to reach such an enormous size. The surroundings were just as immense as the tree the boy was resting on. Every tree looked comparable to a skyscraper—some even taller—and each trunk was so wide that it could have been turned into a massive wooden building. None of this was remotely ordinary, yet the young boy seemed completely indifferent to it. Perhaps he was simply used to it, or perhaps it was only natural for the trees in this world to be so gigantic.
"I slept for too long... Mom's going to worry."
His crimson eyes had just opened after a nap in a forbidden and dangerous place, and the only thing that came to his mind was what his mother would say.
"Do you understand, Kayden ? You. Are. Not. Going. Into. The. Forest ! Is that clear !?"
Kayden suddenly recalled his mother's words. Every single time he went outside, she always repeated the same warning: never go into the forest, emphasizing every single word.
"Adults always exaggerate. Sure, there are monsters, but they're not that dangerous."
As he pondered and tried to understand why the forest was forbidden, a scream echoed through his ears.
"What was that scream ? It sounded like a girl's."
He was surprised, though his expression showed more confusion than shock. He wondered what a girl could possibly be doing here, but this was no time to think. She was surely in danger—he had to save her.
He ran toward the source of the scream.
Meanwhile, a little brown-haired girl was running through the forest. Her left forearm was injured and bleeding, while something was chasing her. Whatever it was, it was clearly no small creature. As she fled, the little girl tripped and sprained her ankle.
"Maybe... in the end... this isn't such a bad thing." she thought through her tears, believing those would be her final words.
The beast charged straight toward her. As she closed her turquoise-green eyes, awaiting death, she immediately opened them again, only to see Kayden holding her in one arm.
He had saved her.
The beast possessed a huge, massive body standing around six meters tall, with two front tusks longer than a sword, along with an enormous snout and a powerful battering ram-like muzzle.
Yes, standing before Kayden was...
"A High Boar ?"
The girl opened her eyes again and saw Kayden's face.
"Who is he ?" she wondered.
Noticing that she was awake, he smiled and asked her a question.
"Have we ever met before ?"
"I don't think so."
The question was unexpected, and such a simple exchange was rather inappropriate given the situation. The girl was still in shock.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. Does your arm hurt ?"
She nodded, and the pain from her wound flared up again.
"Ahhh... It's obvious it still hurts. Why did I even ask that ?"
Kayden felt quite embarrassed for asking such a question, but the beast had no intention of waiting patiently. It let out a growl, immediately drawing Kayden's attention.
"Can you wait for me here ?" he asked, before thinking about his request again. "Right... you can't move. Then just stay here. It'll be over very quickly."
"Wait ! Why aren't you running away !? Run and leave me here !" she shouted through tears, her voice full of pain.
"Don't worry! I'm used to this."
"What ?"
Kayden looked at the High Boar.
"I'm sorry for making you wait."
The battle between the boar and Kayden began.
The boar charged straight at him at full speed. It was moving so fast that, compared to our world, this mere High Boar would be faster than a bullet train—and even an orbiting satellite—reaching roughly Mach 40[1].
"That's still impressive."
Kayden was surprised—not because the High Boar was fast, but because of the speed of the girl he had just met. Escaping from a High Boar, even though it was far from being one of the strongest monsters, was no easy feat. A girl her age—in either his world or ours—should never have been able to escape with so few injuries.
"I shouldn't be thinking about that right now."
Even though it intrigued him, defeating the boar came first.
Yet Kayden did not seem to be struggling in the slightest. As the High Boar charged toward him, he dodged, then created a sword and plunged it into the boar's left side. Keeping his grip on the sword, he moved alongside the beast during its charge and slashed all the way down its body. However, its flesh was too thick for Kayden to have reached even a single vital point.
The boar turned around to face Kayden and charged once again.
In response, Kayden created intense flames in his hands and burned his target.
The High Boar collapsed in agony and died—as quickly as it had appeared.
"Incredible..."
The brown-haired girl was astonished, her turquoise eyes sparkling.
"Sorry for the delay. Let me treat your injuries !"
Kayden knelt down, placed his right hand on her injured forearm and his other hand on her sprained ankle.
"There we go !"
"Wow !"
She looked at her left arm and moved both it and her ankle. Everything seemed fine.
"Be careful ! I didn't actually hea—"
"Ow!"
"—heal you..."
He couldn't finish his sentence, but she didn't need him to.
Holding her forearm, she remained seated.
"Even though it looks like I healed you, I only created bandages around your ankle and forearm, then covered them with artificial skin !"
"A-artificial skin ?"
"Yep !" he replied enthusiastically.
"You've certainly got quite an imagination."
"Do you think you cou—"
Since she was injured, it would have been difficult for her to move, making his question rather inappropriate.
"Hm ?"
"Never mind."
The girl looked confused.
Kayden stood back up.
"By the way, I saved you, but I don't even know your name. What's your name ?"
"Anahita. Anahita Watoxaire. And you?"
"Kayden Henildo. I'm happy to meet you."
"Me too... Kayden."
Kayden turned around, crouched down, and held his arms out behind him.
"W-w-w-what are you doing?"
"Get on."
"What ?"
Anahita was far too embarrassed by the suggestion.
"Well, you're injured, aren't you ? Climb onto my back."
"Okay…"
She stood up, brushed the dust off her skirt a little, and walked over to the young boy's back.
"And if you want, I can take you home."
She hesitated for a moment before answering.
"No, it's okay. Just take me out of the forest."
"Alright."
Even though he understood, it still bothered him a little that a girl he had just met and saved might end up getting hurt on her way home.
Anahita climbed onto his back, and on the way back, they started talking.
"We're about the same age, aren't we? I'm ten years old. What about you ?" Anahita asked.
"I'm ten too."
"Even so, you're already so strong."
"Thank you."
"..."
"..."
"…"
"By the way, you still haven't told me why you're here."
It was only natural for him to ask such a question. After all, the forest was off-limits because of the monsters that lived there.
"What about you ? Even though you saved me, what was a kid like you doing here ?"
"I asked first."
"Hmph!"
She muttered something under her breath.
"What? I didn't hear you."
"I SAID I GOT LOST !!"
"You didn't have to shout."
That answer didn't satisfy Kayden at all, but he didn't want to ask any further.
"So, what about you ? What are you doing here ?"
"I was just taking a walk."
"What ? You know this forest is dangerous, right ?"
"Well, what about you ?"
"That's different !"
"If you say so... We're almost out."
With those words, Kayden suddenly sped up.
"AAAAAAAH !!"
She screamed because of the sudden speed, and in the blink of an eye, they were out of the forest.
Anahita climbed off his back, completely out of breath.
"Hah... hah... hah... I'm... hah... out of breath. Hah... hah... even though... hah... I wasn't the one running..."
"Are you sure you'll be alright getting home?"
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. If I managed to survive a High Boar, then getting home by myself won't be a problem." she said proudly.
After that, silence settled between them, until Kayden spoke.
"I'm heading home."
As he turned around and started walking away, Anahita stopped him by gently grabbing one of his hands.
She was blushing.
"Um... actually... I'd like... I'd like to see you again, if you don't mind."
Kayden hesitated for a moment and blushed as well at her proposal, but he agreed.
The two of them arranged to meet the very next day in the town center at exactly nine o'clock.
"See you tomorrow !"
"Yeah, see you tomorrow !"
They waved goodbye to each other before heading back to their respective homes.
…To be continued…
[1] ≈ 30 700 mph (≈ 49 400 km/h or ≈ 13 70/ m/s)