Child of Destiny

David, who was currently slacking from his training since his master and her husband were busy with their business deep in the Forbidden Valley, was lying on a swing under the tree full of laziness.

The swing was quite huge which could fit at least two fully-grown adults with its size.

David groggily opened his eyes after hearing the excited shout of his little junior. He rubbed his eyes while watching the little guy run at him.

He smiled as he asked. "What is it? Why are you so excited?"

Shin hopped in front of David with bright eyes as he excitedly shared some news. "Senior Brother! Senior Brother! I made a new friend."

Hearing that, David smiled. "Really? What type of beast is it this time? Are they with the other beasts around the village?"

Shin shook his head with a pouted mouth. "He is not a beast! He is a kid from the village!"

This time, David could not help but raise his brows. There was a little seriousness on his face as he asked. "A kid from the village? Which family he came from?"

Shin inclined his little head to the side while pressing his index finger under his lower lip, thinking. After a couple of seconds, he pouted and shook his head. "I don\'t think he is from the uncles and aunties."

"Ah!" he recalled what the group had said to him earlier. "I see him being bullied by Nikko and his friends! And they call him Outsider! Or-… something like that."

David then instantly understood. If it was someone from outside the village, then it was reasonable for them to make friends with Shin without fearing him. All the children within the village were afraid of Shin after all.

"I see. What is his name?" he asked with a smile.

"He said his name is Odin! Sometimes, he is also called First!" said Shin excitedly.

"Odin? First?" mumbled David as he was trying to recall if he knew someone of the same name, who just joined their village. \'Ah! It must be the kid that those dying couple have left in Uncle Peng\'s care.\'

"Un! He said that his parents gave him that name because he is the family\'s first child!" Shin nodded his head innocently.

\'It has been a while since I have seen him this bright,\' David smiled when he saw his junior brother\'s excitement, especially with those sparkling eyes. "Is that so? What else did the two of you talk about? Share it with Senior Brother."

…

A week later, Shin had brought Odin outside the village and entered the nearby forest.

"Let\'s go, Odin! We are almost there! I can finally introduce you to my friends," said little Shin in full excitement as he led the kid behind him deeper into the forest.

"Are you sure it is fine to leave the village? What if we encounter a beast," asked Odin as he nervously looked around.

"Are you afraid of beats? Don\'t worry, all beasts here are good beasts! The bad beasts are chased away to the Forbidden Valley by the powerful uncles from the village!" said Shin with a confident smile.

Swoosh!

Right at that moment, the bushes near them suddenly moved, making Odin jump in fright. "Ah! There is a beast! There is a beast!"

He ran toward Shin and put himself in front of the little toddler, putting a brave front even though he was also very scared.

What he saw was a huge wolf with snow-like furs and a majestic mane. With its savage and glaring eyes, it looked at the two younglings, scaring Odin even more.

But he became confused when he saw that the wolf did not attack them at all.

Confused, he stared at the huge white wolf, which was looking back at him with the same curiosity and confusion.

"Hehe-…"

That was when Odin heard a giggling behind him. He then turned and looked over, he saw Shin trying his best to suppress his laughter.

After seeing Odin\'s expression, Shin smiled and walked over to the huge white wolf.

Odin\'s heart almost jumped out of his chest when he saw this and extended his hand to stop Shin. But he later paused when he saw what happened next.

Shin extended his hands while the white wolf lowered its head, letting Shin stroke and pat its soft and fluffy mane. "This is Uncle Bai! He is one of the good beasts living around the village and protecting it against the bad beats."

Odin\'s lower jaw was almost reaching the ground because he was shocked at that scene.

Shin smiled as he hopped forward and dragged Odin toward the wolf. Even if Odin was older, bigger, and taller than Shin, he could not fight back when he was being dragged. It was mainly because he was neither a Martial Artist nor a Mentalist.

"Don\'t be afraid! Uncle Bai will not hurt you," reassured Shin.

…

"You-… you can talk with a beast?" asked Odin after seeing Shin having a \'conversation\' with the huge wolf.

Shin thought for a moment before answering. "I am not exactly talking with them. But I can understand what they want to say just by looking at their eyes."

"It is like they can talk to me inside my head?" he added with a small frown before changing the topic. "Anyway, let\'s ride Uncle Bai now. He will take us with the other friends that I have!"

Odin hesitated for a moment as he could not shake off the feeling of being afraid of a beast. It was his instincts after all.

But after seeing Shin fearlessly \'talking\' with the wolf and skillfully climbing its back, Odin suppressed his fears and mimicked Shin\'s actions.

"Hold on the furs tight. Don\'t let go if you don\'t want to fall," said Shin with a smile before knocking on his head with his small fist. "I fell one time and it hurts a lot."

"But don\'t worry even if you fall. I know how to heal wounds! I can just heal you," he added with giggles as if he was looking forward for Odin to fall.

\'It is not very reassuring, little brother,\' thought Odin as he lowered his body and hugged the wolf as much as he could.

"Let\'s go, Uncle Bai and introduce him to other beast uncles and aunties!" shouted Shin excitedly.

The wolf nodded its head briefly before pouncing into the air and turning into a blur that dashed across the forest.

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"Haha!"

"Waah!"

Excited laughter and screams of fright quickly resounded in the entire forest immediately after that.

…

Odin could not believe his eyes as he looked at the huge beasts surrounding him. There was a giant gorilla with thick and muscular arms and robust body, a jade serpent that wrapped itself on a huge tree, a saber-tooth tiger that was as huge as the white wolf earlier, a wild bull as big as a small mountain, an intelligent-looking owl sitting on the gorilla\'s shoulder, and many others.

The only \'cute\' ones here were those little tiger cubs, which were twice as big as Shin. They were currently playing with Shin as he introduced all the beasts to Odin.

It took Odin quite a while before he was able to adjust himself to this environment and not get affected by the auras of these beasts.

…

With a new friend, Shin became even more energetic and did not mind the absence of his parents, who were busy in the depths of the Forbidden Valley.

He did not even train as he wanted to play more with Odin and his best friends.

David did not mind this at all. Aside from this being what a kid of Shin\'s age had to do – enjoying life and full of curiosity and innocence – he could also slack off. He did not have to train himself or Shin, which was what he wanted.

Of course, there was also the head of the village guards to protect and watch over Shin from the dark during their trips in the forest.

Sometimes, David switched with that guard on duty whenever he was bored, watching his bright junior brother with a smile. This was the kind of life that his master and her husband dreamed for their beloved son.

…

"Shin, are you sick? Why do you always drink that?" asked Odin as he watched Shin drink a transparent liquid from a familiar vial.

During his time with Shin, he had seen this little toddler drink from this vial at least once a day. He was confused and curious at the same time, so he finally asked when he could no longer suppress his curiosity.

Shin smiled at him and said. "I think so. Mom and Dad say that I must always drink this whenever I feel dizzy. They also say to tell Senior Brother before I even run out of it."

After that, Shin suddenly stood up and said. "I have to go now and train with Senior Brother. Mom and Dad are coming back."

"I can\'t come with to play with the beast uncles today, but I will make sure to be there tomorrow," he added as he hopped from the wooden bench where they sat.

He then smiled before running toward their home.

Odin watched Shin\'s back for a while before sighing. He was alone again. But at least it was not as bad as before as he at least had \'someone\' to play with this time.

Thinking about this, he smiled and hopped from the bench and picked up the basket of fruits before running outside the village.

…

At the village plaza, a man with full of white hair with an overgrown beard and mustache that was almost covering the lower part of his face.

He swayed left and right as he walked while holding a wine jug in his hand. From time to time, he was chugging the wine from the jug, making his swinging worse.

Some of the wine was also leaking from the corner of his mouth as he drank, making his appearance messy.

The villagers who saw him could not help but shake their heads and smile bitterly. They were looking at him with pity.

"Poor Erick. He is always like that," said one of the old villagers with a sigh.

"It is that time already, right?" asked the female fruit vendor beside the old man.

Another person joined them before chiming in the conversation. "Yes. It is that time of the year."

"Tsk! Tsk! It is not like he is the only one to lose our loved ones," said the fruit vendor. "We also have lost someone from that incident, but he always loses himself whenever the anniversary is approaching."

"Sigh~! I hope nothing will happen this time. Every time he is like this, an accident happens," the old man shook his head before continuing his afternoon tea.

As the villagers were already used to this scene, they ignored the poor man and continued their respective businesses.

On the other hand, Erick, who was too drunk to think straight, exited the village and reached the forest groggily.

At that moment, he saw a kid running deep into the forest while hugging a basket full of baskets. He squinted his eyes coldly as a word of anger spat out of his mouth. "Outsider!"

With that, he struggled to walk forward while his body swayed left and right.

…

Shin, who just arrived at their house, frowned when he could not find his Senior Brother. They were supposed to train right now, but it seemed like David was slacking off somewhere once again.

Shin pursed his lips a little while pressing his finger under his lower lip out of habit. But he later smiled when he thought of blaming his Senior Brother when his parents came back home and learned that he skipped his scheduled training.

"Hehe!" with that mischievous thought, he turned around and ran outside the village and toward the deeper parts of the forest excitedly.