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        °•○● Elementa – The Tale of Immortality – Book 1 - Chapter 1 / T

                                                "The Hidden Cave on the Hill" °•○●

A little boy was whistling. Then he looked up the shop he was passing by.

He rushed for a few seconds to examine the products on display in showcase. His eyes looked very calm and clever while checking details. He was totally different comparing to his age when it comes to business-related things.

He finally relieved to saw what he came for in the showcase. He quickly entered the shop and approached the counter, avoiding a few quiet and scary customers inside. The boy didn't know the name of the burly guy who didn't have a very good reputation as the owner of the shop.

The little fellow extended the amount of money in his hand to the glass partition in the middle of the counter. It was made for the money to be seen from the inside and for the healthy progress of shopping. The man inside shook his head and began to look at the child with cold eyes.

"What do you want?"

The little boy acted the same way he learned from his father. He creased his face slightly and sighed as if he was in no hurry. As he was warned, he narrowed his eyes and spoke with an emotionless face. He made it sound like he didn't care.

"I want the dried Red Pan Leaves standing in that showcase. There must be exactly eight pieces and each leaf must be unbroken!"

The man, who looked back at the window and looked a while, held his hand to the window right next to him, in a moment of surprise as the boy's voice was straight and harsh. If that first moment of astonishment lasted a little longer, he could have given it directly, although he was a little boy. This is what the child really hoped for, as he was a merchant famous for creating difficulties for some of his clients.

  But the shopkeeper had been in business for many years, and he wasn't stupid. On the contrary, he took his hand away from the window and looked at the child sternly.

"Why do you want these leaves?

He was a merchant who obtained the alchemy materials he sells in his shop with some connections. He made a living by having few alchemists in the city to come and make mass purchases. Now he found it pointless that a small child would want to take a rare plant leaf as if it was very normal.

But the little boy said continued in one go as he practiced before.

"I just entered the Warrior Section of Navy. Are you implying that I have to explain or beg for a plant that my commander says is good for my body?"

The child's voice was even more confident and threatening. The man behind the counter wondered for a moment whether the little boy was 10 years old. But when he looked at the child's body, he hesitated.

If this child really entered the Navy as a student, he could have remembered the current mistakes after a few years and could go back to the shop. The man named Gazu extended his hand to the showcase without taking any further words and took a large box of glass and took out eight leaves. Although he didn't care much, the boy noticed that they were all unbroken, as he said.

Gazu turned the panel as the leaves were placed on a glass-panel like the one the child had just put in his money. Panels with both money and leaves turned together. Now the leaves were outside and the money was inside.

The little boy rejoiced deeply and quickly picked up the leaves. He took care as taking leaves, but he didn't show this care on his face.

He put them to his little bag he brought with and left the shop. He didn't even look at the man's face unnecessarily for a second. If he showed his face too much, he might be in trouble because of the lie he told. But, according to his father, such small merchants didn't have the ability to keep in mind all the people they saw.

He kept the bag in front of the store with the leaves and was relieved to be successful. He was happy, even though he had spent all the money he'd saved his entire life a minute ago and bought only eight leaves.

But he wasn't a masochist who especially be happy by losing Money. No, even though he lost every single penny he saved, he was excited because he was about to do something big.

The smiling little boy was going to make a bomb!

...

The boy's name was Ren and his last name was Gan.

He was a pale light brown hair fella, lighter than average height, and had almost skinny body.

He didn't have a very cute or handsome face, but he didn't look ugly among that continent's people. It was said that his mother's lips and eyelashes was his now and he taken his father's dimples and green eyes.

Ren had a long body from his father when he compared his mother's almost short average height. In first place he was already taller than usual that this caused the vendor to hesitate about his age. Anyway.

The thing is, a few days ago, Ren had fallen into a cave where he found by chance or his butt. Both were true in a weird sense. His butt was the first thing entered that cave…

Just before the half-hour walk for the cave from his location, first he started the other quarter to his home. It would take half an hour to go that cave, so he didn't go fast or run. He was in no hurry and did not want to damage the leaves he bought in a great price.

At that moment, a small smile appeared on his face. His smile grew even more when he remembered the time he found the cave. The entrance to the cave was a bit strange and hidden.

..

A few days ago, all the young people and young children in their clan went swimming in a bay where the sea wasn’t deep and Ren followed them with envy.

The cave had an improbable location for an 8-year-old child like the Ren. It was not seen from either side or below the sea. It was at the top of a hill that could be called "the cliff," which was very far from the sea.

Ren was sure of one thing. If he hadn't followed the wicked children and he didn't act like a Ninja for watching, he wouldn't have found that cave in that psycho location.

The only way to enter the cave was by a cavity next to a tree on top of the hill. Little Ren was not too close to tree, as it was at the very end of the side facing the sea and dangling dangerously halfway into the abyss.

  But when he saw the play and joy of the children below, he wanted to take a closer look. He clung to the trunk of the tree at the end of the slope of cliff. He was standing on the roots of the tree at the point above the sea. After looking at the children below for a while, and then turning around behind, he noticed a pit with nothing inside between leaves and twigs.

That's when he saw the entrance he could slip into. He was going to that point right now. So, to his "secret place" in other words.

He was just eight and not very creative for names for a boy about to make a bomb soon.

..

Fifteen minutes passed when Ren walked to his clan where his house also inside of it. He approached guard on the front door of Clan's General Complex. The guard knew Ren because he was one of the few soldiers who had been a guard for a long time. He let Ren pass and sat still in his seat.

Since it was so cold outside for a child, Ren always had to wear thick clothes. He was just 8-year-old, so he better protect his body. Ren was going to take a few cloths from his own room.

He quickly went to go backdoor of his home. Since it was getting later as the day approached the evening, he was planning to take a small piece of bread to throw in his mouth. Moreover, there was another fifteen minutes road to walk. He had to eat something.

  Ren entered his own room and looked around in the tiny space that ended in one step. He took the thickest clothes he had thrown into the corner and put them on, then stopped by the kitchen without going out yet. Ren's pleasure was quite good when he was threading the delicious piece of bread into his belly.

With the cloths he had on top of him and a long road that would take a while, he started walking fast. But when he was almost outside of the complex of Gan Clan he suddenly stopped. When he saw the people entering from the door, he ran to the side and waited behind one of the cargo barrels next to a house.

To enter the Gan Clan's Grounds through the front door, you must either be one of the main members of the family or be an important visitor. Ren didn't want to waste time meeting someone he knew. Relatives would have been a waste of time, same with the important guests.

Although he could clearly see who the people were, he didn't recognize them. He also noticed that one of them was a little girl, but he didn't care. Although Ren thought they might be visitors, there were a lot of people in the Gan family that he didn't know yet. So, he ran out the front door without much thought.

  He could see the small side door a hundred meters away. It was the door for employees, soldiers and slaves to use. Ren walked away from there and ran off the main road of the villa.

Relying on the clothes he wore on, he watched softly as he accelerated slightly. He smiled when the cold wind blowing his hair. He was enjoying to even look at the sky. Ren was weird comparing to his age.

His cloths were so thick that he was sure that he wouldn't be sick even in where the hillside was. He whistles in the wind with pleasure until the road is over.

..

Ren arrived on the hillside overlooking the sea. He even gave a name after coming here a lot lately. "The Secret Entrance in the Hill" As an 8-year-old, he had not thought of a creative name and thought this was cool.

After receiving support from the tree, Ren walked slowly to the cavity hidden between the roots. Then he leaned over and threw himself in. Half of his body slid easily inward, and he slid from the smooth groove down.

He slipped about 2-3 meters down in the hollow entry, which was very convenient when entering. After landing a few meters to the opposite direction of the sea, he entered his private "secret cave". As soon as he entered the cave, he approached a wall right next to the point where he fell. There was some ash and dirt at the bottom of the wall, on the side backing the sea.

The first time he fell here, he stood still in the dark for a while and no matter how much he didn't want to accept it, he was very scared. He even leaned over and closed his eyes as he waited for the giant creatures to emerge for a few minutes.

But after minutes pass, he saw that there wasn't even a single spider and he managed to overcome his fear. At that time, when nothing was near him, he went into the bottom of the wall and created a light by lighting a garment he had taken off from his body.

It's a secret but he had to burn his under undershirt...

With both fear and helplessness, he created a source of light. If he hadn't overcome his fear of that day, fear of darkness would not have been overcomed and he wouldn't be this fearless in the dark. Maybe it was a good thing to just jump inside of unknown ha?

Little Ren was proud of his success as a little boy.

Of course, he did nothing but try to get out that day. Anyway..!..

..

He stumbled out of place where he immediately slid down with the light that allowed him to see his front for a short time. Although it wasn’t as easy to be slipped down, it was miraculous that the cavity could be also used when climbing out. The next few days, he couldn’t defeat his fear and go down a second time to investigate.

After a few days, he was curious already because of his imagination. Little Ren thought that there were different treasures in this cave. Even if there was no tresure it could be the greatest secret base in the future.

That's why he didn't tell anyone in his family about this cave.

..

-Today-

He threw the bag on his back and took out one of the torches he brought with him. He had three small wooden boards that he had previously found and attached them together so that he could attach the torch on him. If his father saw the simplicity of what he had, he would probably be between laughing and crying. If Ren showed this wooden instrument after the lessons he had learned, he could eat a little beating  from his father.

He had learned a lot about carpentry, construction and basic trade in the last year. With his mother and his clan, he had to take forced attended classes with serious teachers from Gan Clan. Because he was a member of the Clan Family, he had no choice in this kind of stuff.

He was ashamed of himself for a moment as he looked at the united wood in his hand. He pushed the handle over his handcuffed hand and proceeded holding them both with one hand.

After a few steps, he stood in front of another gate and put forward a torch for better illumination of the dark area as far as possible.

Although it was still at the entrance of the cave, it wasn't the first time Ren entered this part of the cave.

His main mission with leaves and this cave just began.

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