“What are you doing?”
“Planting.”
“But those are just rocks.”
“Special rocks.”
Alice stared at Aries in confusion. In her confusion, she remembered something. Alice focused and waved her hand and summoned the Codex. Flipping through the pages, she stopped at a newly opened page.
‘These are special mineral seeds that when placed into the ground, eventually grows into magic crystal/ore.
These seeds originate from minerals that have taken in a large amount of Chi and had its structure reformed to store Chi. These seeds typically form from minerals in Chi dense areas or are used in potions.
With their ability to store Chi, these seeds can be used as backup storage for Chi for replenishing or other uses.’
…
…
…
“Oh! So that’s what it was.”
She spoke her thoughts aloud, coming to an understanding.
“Where did he even—”
She stopped speaking as she noticed Aries looking over her shoulder. Her heart jumped and she stumbled away from him, falling on her behind.
“Quite the useful book that ‘Codex’ you have.”
“Dear god, you scared me!”
She placed her hand on her chest and sighed. Ignoring her, Aries looked up to the sky, his gaze focused. Alice followed the direction of his eyes and noticed a small, almost imperceptible crack in the gray sky.
“What the hell?”
“It seems whatever happened when we met is wearing off. Let’s go back.”
Saying this, he began to walk away. Alice quickly got up and followed behind him.
“Didn’t you do this?”
Sparing her a glance, he took a step out of the forest they had entered before replying.
“I am not capable of doing this.”
“Then—”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The cracks in the sky began to spread quickly, shards of sky falling and revealing the blue sky. Aries returned to the spot he was originally, then so did Alice. Aries looked directly into her eyes before speaking.
“If you wish to awaken, meet me here tomorrow.”
Saying this, his cheeks became rosy once more, his expression turning happy and joyous once more. At the same time, the cracks spread everywhere, then, the gray word shattered, colour returned to the world and time began to flow once more.
“Yo Alice, I heard you fainted, feeling better?”
Noel spoke up, addressing Alice. She turned to him and gave a warm smile.
“Ofcouse.”
“Do you want to join us?”
“Sure.”
With that, the children began to play once more, this time less roughly due to the sickly girl.
***
The moonlight shone down on the forest floor, silence encompassing it, the typical noise expected from a forest was nowhere to be found. The moonlight began to form into beads of light that flowed to a single point and coagulated into a hooded figure.
The figure’s dark, layered robes blew in the wind that emanated from him. The robes were simple, made in hues of black and gray, the top layer of the robe was marked with the silver symbol of an opened, fanged maw that held the shape of a heart.
WOOSH!
The figure floated down the ground, the wind that emanated from him blowing outward, rustling the grass and leaves. He scanned his surroundings for a moment, as if looking for something, then, his gaze paused on a specific place on the ground and smiled.
Step.
He landed on the ground and began to walk towards the area he saw, at the same time, pulling something out of his robe.
Squeak. Squeak.
A soft squeaking sound sounded from his hand.
Step. Step. Step.
The figure stopped before the area he had noticed and looked down to the ground beneath him, which was emanating a soft blue glow. He bent down and placed a gray rat —which had the same symbol on the figure's robe carved into its back— onto the glowing earth.
Petting the rat with his gloved hand, the figure whispered, “Dig into the earth and eat the rocks here, after this deal with the village and develop your power.” The figure then made a circular motion with his hand and formed a grayish-silver gem which he then placed into the rat’s forehead.
He then turned away and rose into the sky and dissolved into the moonlight. Following this, the rat began to dig into the ground.
Scratch! Scratch!
It eventually dung up one of the stones and began to nibble on it. After a few minutes, it finished the rock and immediately felt a surge of chi, as it couldn’t handle this, its body began to bubble and bloat.
Both the gem and symbol on the rat began to glow a silver light that covered it. This stabilized its body, though, it was permanently mutated. It had grown in size, its fur above the symbol carved into it turned white, taking its shape, and the gem protruding from its forehead fused with it, locking it in place.
After its body fully stabilized, the rat continued to dig up the stones, its body becoming more and more mutated and monstrous.
Once it was done, it dug further and buried itself underground, stabilizing its now mutated self and the chi within it.
***
In his room, Aries meditated on the floor, circulating his chi. Now that his newly formed chi pathways had stabilized, he was now conducting the final step and ascending to the first step of awakening.
Aries gathered the blue light in his body into his chest and remembering the heart he had seen for a moment, stuck the particles of chi together and bit by bit, began to rebuild the heart.
At first it was easy, but eventually, the more chi he stuck together, the harder it became to keep everything together.
Click. Click. Click.
As he connected the particles of chi, he heard faint clicking sounds. After finishing the heart halfway, a sharp hissing sound reached his ears and his heart tightened, as if it was being squeezed.
“Kghk!”
A sound escaped lips but he ignored it and continued to build the heart.
1…
2…
3…
Click!
He placed the last particle of chi, completing the heart. A warmth washed over his body and he felt the amount and purity of the chi in his body expand, enhancing his body and looks in the process.
Aries rose from his position, his body soaked in sweat. He looked at the palm of his hand, opening and closing it.
“How interesting.”
The moon light shone through his open window and cast his shadow on the wall. Suddenly, his shadow shifted and grew.