The Divine Elements

“Boy… does my place look like a nursery home for little brats?”

A hunch-backed small raccoon spat out her words, as she glared venomously at the human teen standing before her.

With her tiny hut being surrounded by a myriad of baby beasts, Tarnila was annoyed by the noisy commotion. She had decided to live in isolation because she disliked interacting with others, and now her latest student had decided to bring a whole school of little beasts to her house.

“Mewww…”

The golden leopard shyly hid behind Calron’s legs the moment Tarnila appeared. The little beast could sense the lightning within the raccoon, and knew that the fragile-looking elder was much stronger than Calron.

“Oyah? A kitten with the lightning attribute? With its inborn agility and the power of lightning, this little one could grow up to be quite fearsome indeed.”

Tarnila stopped in her tracks, her solemn eyes closely scrutinizing every inch of the little leopard.

“Meoww!”

The golden leopard proudly mewed in a high-pitched voice, as if it understood what the raccoon had said, and agreed with her words.

“Now for the rest of this bunch…”

Tarnila sighed, glancing around and seeing the excited beasts hopping around leisurely and exploring the surroundings of her hut.

“Sorry about this Teacher, but I couldn’t leave them alone to fend for themselves and besides, I thought that with all of them here, it will be better for Avi as well.”

Calron said, while gazing at the dark wolf pup playing with the others on top of the bear cub’s back.

“So what Balis said is true… you are leaving for Selior city.”

Tarnila stated, as she looked up at the clouds and sighed.

So that shady Elder’s name is Balis.

Calron made a mental note.

“Don’t worry about these brats, I will have Weir prepare to enroll them into the beast school within the city. However, you need to be careful kid, Selior city is where the human powerhouses reside and political treachery is as common as grass there.”

The old raccoon’s sharp eyes bore into Calron.

“I know, that is why I wanted to leave Avi here.”

Calron replied in a calm voice. He already knew about the level of danger, but if he wanted to find out the truth about his family, then he had no choice but to go to Selior city.

“Fine, I guess you already have the resolve, so I’ll trust you in this matter. By the way, how long do you plan on hiding that other human?”

Tarnila chuckled, as a circular bolt of lightning emerged on the tip of her forefinger and shot off towards a distant place behind a tree.

“Owww!”

A short cry of pain echoed out, after which the figure of Roran appeared, as he limply walked towards the small raccoon and Calron.

“Hahaha, nothing can escape Teacher’s eyes! I wasn’t planning on hiding him from you, but I didn’t know if Laris or anyone else would be here, so I thought I should take some precaution. Teacher, this is my little brother, Roran!”

Calron laughed, as he grabbed Roran by the shoulders and pushed him towards Tarnila.

The old raccoon seemed like a little toddler in front of Roran’s height, causing the old raccoon’s mood to sour.

*thwack*

“You oversized piece of bamboo, how dare you become this tall!? Have you no respect for your elders?”

A heavy-looking staff abruptly appeared within Tarnila’s claws, and she used it to repeatedly smack Roran on the face with it.

Ouch! What the f*ck!? Is a person’s height something which can be changed on a whim? This crazy raccoon is too unreasonable!

Roran cursed within his mind as he tearfully endured the smacking, and stunned by the raccoon’s sudden change of behavior.

Meanwhile, Calron laughed in amusement, knowing full well the personality of the crazy raccoon, as he had once endured those beatings before as well.

“Ms. Raccoon, look there, that little monkey is eating your plants!”

Roran shouted out mid-beating, when he noticed the yellow monkey sneaking around in the background, and realized that this was his chance for revenge against the monkey brat and a chance to escape the crazy thrashing.

“Huh?”

Tarnila stopped, and slowly glanced behind her.

The little yellow monkey was trying to pull out one of her melon plants from its root, with sweat already forming beads on its tiny forehead. The monkey was still unaware that it was caught red-handed.

“You…”

The very air around Tarnila began to tremble, as bolts of lightning flickered on top of her fur and her grey eyes stared furiously at the monkey.

“Gaga?”

Noticing that the area around him had suddenly turned into an eerie silence, the little monkey lifted up its head while continuing to pull the melon along with the entire plant.

“Gu…”

The monkey’s eyes trembled in fear when it gazed into the angry eyes of Tarnila, and saw the violent bolts of lightning around her.

*step* *step*

The old raccoon slowly walked towards the shivering beast, her claws clenching.

The little monkey tried to quickly escape, but it was pointless in front of Tarnila. Swiftly grabbing a hold of its hind leg, the old raccoon lifted the monkey up in the air and slapped its furry butt until it turned red.

“Gaahhhh Guuaaahh Gaaaahh”

The little monkey cried pitifully, as it desperately trying to wiggle out of Tarnila’s hold.

Haha, I guess the little rascal will learn some manners if Teacher is around.

Calron mused with mirth, while Roran standing next to him snickered with content at seeing the monkey get a thrashing.

………………..

“You sure you don’t want to say goodbye to Laris and the others? I know that she will be upset if you don’t go to greet her. Also, that little wolf pup will throw a tantrum if she finds out that you are leaving her here.”

Tarnila asked in a serious voice.

“That is why Teacher will not tell anyone that I returned. As for Avi, I feel bad for leaving her, but it’s simply too dangerous for her to travel with me to Selior city, as even I do not know what I will face there. Besides, it will be good for her to spend time with the other brats and make some friends so she won’t be lonely.”

Calron stated in soft voice, as he adjusted his new light armor on the chest. Since he was going back to a human society, he decided to change his clothing. The armor was given to him by Tarnila, while she also gave Roran a spacial bracelet of his own upon Calron’s request.

“Hmm, well you’ll have to deal with whatever punishment that little wolf will give you when you return… anyways, I already informed Balis that you are ready, so hurry up. The old geezer is a stickler for punctuality.”

The old raccoon conveyed, as she turned around and waved her claws while walking away.

“Thank you, Teacher.”

Calron bowed towards Tarnila’s disappearing back, and Roran did the same. He had joyously picked up the little raccoon and swirled her in the air when she handed him the special bracelet, and only put her down after she began to punch him on the face with her tiny claws.

Calron did not mind Tarnila’s craziness or beatings, as he knew that the old raccoon was one of the kindest beasts that he had met and he wanted Roran to see this side of the beasts as well.

……………………..

“Right on time.”

A deep voice resounded on the mountain, as Calron and Roran made their way to the top.

Sitting in a meditative pose, Elder Balis gradually opened his eyes the moment the human teens approached him.

Not blinking once at the presence of Roran, the owl-faced Elder abruptly asked a question in a somber tone, stopping the hearts of the two youths.

“Do you both wish to join the sacred Order of the Guardians?”

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