Helmut

Chapter 2

Helmut remembered the beautiful woman’s soft hands cupping his face. Her long blonde hair and gentle blue eyes would be embedded in his memory forever. She had looked at him, tears streaming down her cheeks, and called out the name of the boy she would never see again.

“Helmut! Helmut!”

Instinctively, the child realized that must have been his name. Shortly after, a pair of rough hands snatched him from his mother’s bosom, and a desperate scream rang out in his ears.

The infant made sure to commit the name to memory before being bundled up in a blanket and sent to an unknown place. By the time the boy learned to speak, he remembered his name, pointed at himself, and declared, “My name is Helmut.”

The great leopard that gained free will and consciousness through its long years of existence, Elaga, responded disapprovingly.

“Don’t get arrogant, you little punk. Do you really expect me to call you by your name?”

With a smile on his face, the boy stubbornly insisted. “I said my name is Helmut.”

Elaga snarled grumpily, thinking, Why didn’t I just devour him whole when I had the chance? She realized all too late that their relationship wasn’t going how she thought it would. The massive leopard bared her fangs, but the boy just stared back at her without a hint of fear in his eyes.

The creature had fed him, given him a warm place to sleep, and looked after him all this time. So, no amount of snarling could intimidate the boy anymore.

Annoyed by the lack of response, Elaga let out a roar.

Raaaawr!

But soon, she gave in.

“I go by the name Elaga.”

“I’m Helmut.”

“Yes, yes, I heard you the first time. You’re Helmut.”

The boy gazed back at the leopard with a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes.

* * *

Helmut was a peculiar boy.

The seed of darkness influenced his intelligence and control over his body to develop much faster than other human children. Perhaps this extraordinary level of maturity was why he never cried or fussed like other babies. His jet-black hair and dark eyes made a stark contrast against his fair skin, creating a striking appearance that would catch anyone’s eye.

Interestingly enough, it seemed as if the baby could recognize the paw that fed him. Helmut had felt comfortable around the giant leopard since day one and followed him everywhere. He would run about, exploring the world around him for fun. Then, when he was done playing, he would snuggle up against Elaga to sleep, no matter how many times the leopard snarled at him.

Elaga was puzzled. I can’t believe how quickly he adapted. Perhaps the boy was born with such traits. Oh, well. At least he doesn’t cry.

Elaga tried to see the brighter side of this arrangement. She was used to magical beasts staring her down all the time, so it was quite nice to have an adorable and frail human around for a change. Sometimes, magical beasts with peculiar tastes raised small beasts that were either pretty or had rare colors. Elaga could finally understand why they did so.

He’s a mild inconvenience, but at least he’s cute. Watching the tiny boy fumble around, she couldn’t help but smile. In fact, she even felt slightly proud when the boy finally started to walk. But when Helmut eventually started speaking, Elaga realized the cumbersome little thing turned out to be a very big inconvenience indeed.

Still, she was pleased that the boy ate whatever he was given and dozed off as soon as he felt tired. Helmut never asked for affection or kindness from Elaga. However, as he grew up, he started demanding other things from the leopard.

He was always curious, so he frequently bombarded the creature with questions. The problem was that his questions always led to more questions, such those in one particular memory.

“Why do you have so much fur, Elaga?” Helmut asked as he petted the leopard’s white fur and cuddled up to stay warm in the night.

The leopard was proud of her lush coat and tended to it daily. So she answered, “Because I’m a leopard.”

“Why do leopards have fur?”

“To preserve our body heat.”

“But why don’t I have fur? I feel cold, too.”

“Because you are a human.”

“Why don’t humans have fur?”

“How would I know? Stop pestering me with questions!”

The train of questions only ever came to a screeching halt when Elaga yelled at him. After all, the leopard was a magical beast, and she did not possess the patience to look after a child. But Helmut was undeterred. From then on, the boy seized every opportunity to ask his only conversation partner all sorts of questions.

“Elaga, what is this thing called?”

“Elaga, can I eat this?”

“Elaga, why is your name Elaga?”

Raaawr!

No amount of intimidation or threats ever worked against this tiny foe. Elaga climbed a tree and roared to herself when she started losing her beloved fur due to the stress of childcare.

I will die of frustration if this continues! And so, Elaga made up her mind that very day. I will teach him to feed himself so that I can be rid of him.

Unfortunately for the leopard, it took quite some time for Helmut to be able to feed himself. Humans grew slowly. Time dragged on as the boy learned to crawl, waddle about clumsily, and finally walk with ease.

The boy still had to be fed every meal because he would surely die if left to his own devices. Then, he would torment the leopard again with more questions. Elaga knew learning was a key part of human growth, but she was suffering tremendously. It felt as though the unending cycles of childcare were shaving years off her life.

She was a magical beast, and magical beasts were supposed to eat children, not look after them. But she chose to care for Helmut. No one knows why, but it just turned out that way.

Sometimes, things seem to happen without reason. And so, Elaga got used to the brutal intricacies of childcare with each passing day.

Eventually, that tiny thing grew up. The little chatterbox was a slightly bigger chatterbox now. By the time Helmut turned ten, he approached Elaga and finally told her something she’d wanted to hear.

“I want to try hunting.”

Once he learns to hunt, he surely will be able to feed himself.

“Okay, I will teach you.”

Elaga gladly obliged.

* * *

It wasn’t hard to find a suitable target since many magical beasts of varying sizes lived in Elaga’s vast territory. Elaga never explicitly said they could, but she let them live there nonetheless. The Forest of Pahe was quite large, but none of the magical beasts inside could leave the boundaries set by the holy barrier. The weaker beasts had nowhere to go, even if the powerful beasts were to mark their territories as solely their own. So, they all ended up sharing the forest to a certain extent.

The more powerful beasts that dominated large territories kept a wary eye on each other. However, these disputes had nothing to do with the birds or mice that came and went. Of course, that didn’t mean Elaga made her territory seem like a peaceful pasture, since she’d be inviting challenges by making herself look weak if she did.

The wild beasts that had transformed into demons were a good source of food, and it was those beasts Elaga hunted to feed Helmut. Now that Helmut was ten years old, the boy knew the Forest of Pahe quite well and understood his place in the food chain.

If Elaga hadn’t marked him with her scent, the other beasts would have swallowed him whole without leaving even a trace of his bones. Regardless of the seed of darkness Helmut possessed, he was a young boy and had to choose his targets wisely.

I know which beasts I can hunt. Helmut had a plan, which is why he had offered to hunt in the first place.

Elaga watched from afar since she had shown the boy how to hunt many times over. Even though Helmut couldn’t replicate what she did due to their physiological differences, the boy knew what he had to do as a human.

Helmut climbed up a tree and waited. He knew some creatures liked to feed on the grass in the area. Sure enough, a magical beast soon appeared and buried its head into the bush.

This is my chance!

Helmut immediately leaped to the ground and pinned his target down with a thud. The creature let out a piercing shriek. It resembled something of a rabbit, although it was far too big and monstrous to be called one. It had sharp, jagged teeth and a body as thick as a log.

Its bite could probably tear me to the bone.

Sweat ran down the back of Helmut’s neck as he held down his target with all his might. Although his hands were nowhere as powerful as Elaga’s mighty front paws, he knew striking the creature’s weak spot could kill it.

The creature shrieked and thrashed violently. The boy knew he couldn’t hold on for much longer. I have to kill it quickly. Helmut reached down and grabbed a jagged stone. Then he struck it down on the thrashing creature’s head.

Crack!

Its blood and brain matter splattered across the boy’s expressionless face. The creature died instantly, its body convulsing briefly before going completely limp. Helmut calmly flipped over its body and savored his first successful hunt. The thrill of the hunt had yet to leave his black eyes as he stared at the lifeless rabbit-like demon.

“Move aside.”

Elaga, who had been leisurely watching the action from a corner, prowled over. She then unleashed her claws and slit the rabbit-demon’s chest open, making its blood gush out all over the ground.

Helmut wiped the splattered blood from his face with the back of his hand. Elaga dug into the rabbit’s body with her sharp claws and slowly rolled something out of its chest.

It was a tiny marble as ominously black as the essence of darkness itself.

Helmut had never seen one up close before because Elaga always gobbled them up as soon as she’d slain any creatures.

“This is its core. Eating it makes one stronger and replenishes the energy that escapes the body over time, extending one’s lifespan. But this one is small because the creature itself was tiny and weak.”

Helmut nodded and reached out for his first kill.

“No, you don’t!” Elaga swung her tail to push Helmut away and gobbled up the orb.

“What are you doing?” Helmut angrily grabbed onto Elaga’s fur so he wouldn’t trip and fall.

Elaga tapped the ground with her tail. “What’s the matter? You’re not going to share after all I’ve done to feed and raise you?”

“You could’ve just asked me for it!”

“If I had, then you wouldn’t have worked so hard to hunt it down.”

Helmut frowned at the leopard’s nonchalant behavior and turned away in anger.

Elaga chuckled to herself. It looks like I got the boy all riled up. Usually, it was Helmut annoying the leopard, so Elaga was pleased to see the tables turned for once.

“You’re a human, so eating a core will turn you into a magical beast. Then you won’t ever be able to leave the forest.”

That was the real reason why the leopard took the core. It certainly wasn’t to make Helmut angry. However, Elaga suddenly felt lonely and bitter for some reason and fell silent.

Helmut watched her for a second and started dragging the lifeless creature away.

At least he got to keep the meat.