Genesis Sync

“You know, if you keep giving me stuff, I’m never going to be able to pay you back,” Mel stated as they continued through the woods.

“It was only six boar meats,” John replied while glancing around since he still felt like he was being watched from somewhere. “Do you have the feeling you're being watched?”

“Not really,” Mel replied before adding. “But we know someone's observing you.”

“Hmm, I guess it could be me imagining things after that ominous message,” John replied. “But it feels like the one watching us is close by.”

Mel shook her head while saying, “I don’t feel anything.”

John was about to reply when they both suddenly heard the sound of yelps and growls coming from nearby. The sound reminded John of young animals when they were play-fighting. They slowly approached the sound in order to investigate and hid behind a tree before peeking around it to see three little bear cubs clambering over each other as they tried to decide who was strongest.

However, what quickly caught the pair's attention was the fully grown bear behind them that was lying down with its eyes closed.

{Inspect}

[Name: Adult Bear (Elite)]

[Monster Type: Defensive]

[Level?]

[HP: ???]

[MP: ???]

“How is it?” Mel asked quietly.

“Hell no,” John replied as he sent her the information.

Mel’s eyes widened in surprise before nodding and whispering, “Yeah, no chance.”

The pair slowly began to back away, but then a bear cub John failed to notice because it was sleeping between the adult bear's front legs raised its head and sniffed the air before turning to look in their direction.

{Shit} They both thought simultaneously, before John’s eyes widened in surprise. {Isn’t that the cub I helped before?}

The little cub suddenly stood up before it ran in their direction, which immediately attracted the adult bear's attention, causing it to open one eye. However, as it noticed that its cub was heading towards a human, it suddenly raised its head and roared, causing the bear cub to stop where it was and making the pair flinch.

The adult bear slowly got to its feet and began to approach the pair while growling and showing its teeth.

(We’re so dead) Both thought as the bear got closer to them.

Then, just as it was about to pass its cub, the little cub jumped in front of its parent and faced it before starting to growl and yip as it raised its front paw that was previously injured. Seeing this, the adult bear looked at its cub and softly growled back.

“Are those two communicating?” Mel asked in a whisper, to which John nodded and whispered back, “I think so.”

The two bears continued to communicate with each other for several seconds before the adult bear raised its head again and looked directly at John, though without growling this time. John didn’t look away and maintained eye contact with the adult bear as they continued to stare at each other for what seemed like hours before the adult bear turned back at the cub and nodded while giving a low growl.

The little cub yipped happily before it ran up to John and began rubbing itself against him and trying to climb up his leg.

{No idea what they said to each other, but at least it seems the adult bear no longer plans to maul me to death.} John thought as he crouched down and started to scratch the cub's head and back before saying. "Hey there, little guy, feeling better?"

The cub yipped happily before rolling on its back and showing its belly, causing John to laugh before asking, “What are you, a dog?" After which he scratched the cub's belly, who seemed to greatly enjoy it.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Seriously?” Mel asked in disbelief as she watched John scratching the bear cub's belly. “When the hell did you make friends with a bear cub?”

“Oh, this is the little guy I helped back before we first met,” John explained as he continued to scratch the bear cub's belly while the other cubs stopped play-fighting and came over to watch. “He had a thorn in his paw that I removed.”

Mel was about to reply when a shadow suddenly loomed over them, causing her to look up and say, “Err,” which in turn caused John to look up and see that, without either of them noticing, the adult bear had come up next to them and began to watch the interaction between him and its cub.

As if coming to a decision, the bear suddenly took a deep breath, which alarmed both John and Mel before it breathed out over John, causing him to freeze as the hot breath washed over his face and body.

After a few seconds, the bear stopped and, after giving John one more look, turned away and returned to where it had been resting before as the other bear cubs followed it.

“Err, what was that?” Mel asked in shock while John shook his head as the bear yipped as if asking for more belly rubs. The adult bear seemed to hear the cubs' yips and so let out a low growl, causing the cub to look over at it and whimper.

John noticed this and gave the cub another scratch before saying, "Go on back, buddy, as I also need to leave. I'm glad to know you’re doing well." In response, the cub looked up at him before giving one last yip, after which it ran back to its parent.

The pair watched the cub depart before turning and leaving themselves as they continued towards where the forest showed signs of sickness.

What neither they nor any of the bears noticed was that a pair of large eyes had been watching them since they arrived, and that those eyes seemed to grow brighter as the bear breathed over John.

“You really are something else,” Mel stated as she glanced at John. “I’ve never heard of a player having such an interaction with a wild animal. The closest I’ve heard is elf druid players interacting with animals within the Seven Circles Enclave.”

John glanced at Mel while asking, “Seven Circles Enclave?”

“It’s a hidden location that’s only accessible to druids since it’s their faction's headquarters,” Mel explained.

“Ohh,” John replied as they continued walking through the forest while he occasionally gathered herbs they passed. On one such occasion, he shivered before asking, “Is it me, or is it getting colder?”

“It’s not just you,” Mel replied as she began to look around nervously before adding, “Also, have you noticed that as we get closer to the sickness, we’re encountering more and more plants and trees with this strange black mould?”

Eventually, as the pair passed a particularly dense patch of dead bushes, they noticed a green glow in the distance that seemed to flicker and grow brighter the closer they got until they reached the edge of some trees that they peered between. As they did so, they saw that the trees opened up into a small clearing and that in the centre of the clearing was a green fire that floated above a dark, poisonous green magic circle.

Wooden stakes surrounded the magic circle, each holding up a different dead animal so that their blood fell onto the edge of the magic circle.

“Any idea what that is?” John whispered.

Mel shook her head before whispering back, “No clue, but it’s nasty as fuck. Wait, I see movement on the other side of the fire.”

John hadn’t noticed before because of the fire that was between them, but as he focused, he was able to make out the outline of a humanoid, and as he did, his quest notification went off.

[Quest Notification]

[Sickness in Dawn Forest Part 1 Complete (Unique)]

[Quest has been updated]

[Sickness in Dawn Forest Part 2 (Unique)]

[You have discovered a diabolical magic circle within Dawn Forest that uses the dead carcasses of animals and seems to be the cause of the sickness.]

[You have two options ahead of you.]

[Option 1: Return to the Mayor of Dawn Village and inform him of what you have found so he can send a force to deal with the individual behind this.]

[Option 1 Consequences: The evil will most likely be defeated by the combined forces of Dawn Village; however, it will cost the lives of villagers, and by the time they arrive, the magic circle will have spread the sickness around much more of the forest.]

[Option 2: Confront the mysterious individual controlling the magic circle and attempt to defeat them.]

[Option 2 Consequences: If you defeat the individual, the sickness will be stopped and you will be rewarded for your valiant deed; however, should you fail to stop the individual, Dawn Village will not be informed in time to stop the magic circle and Dawn Forest will die.]

[Please choose wisely.]

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!