n

n

n“What is this?”

nKairos pushed away the black branches with his spear so that he could get to the paper buried underneath. After picking it up, he shook the dirt that covered it to reveal its contents.

n‘Commands

n1 – Collect living creatures with medium or above mana amounts and transform them into living oaks.

n2 – Tend to any existing living oaks and nurture them.

n3 – Await my arrival’

nKairos furrowed his brows.

nLing also took a peek at the paper.

n“What…”

nKairos sighed.

n“It looks like these are orders for this weird plant thing.”

nHe furrowed his brows.

n“In other words, there is someone controlling these things somehow.”

nLing let out a small gasp.

n“They can… control them?”

nKairos clicked his tongue.

n“It basically means that this person is probably much stronger than these creatures and we are now sitting in his trashed-up garden.”

nLing scratched the back of his head.

n“Will the person forgive us?”

nKairos shook his head.

n“Would you forgive someone that destroyed your garden that you spent lots of time on?”

nLing blinked a few times.

n“Well… I wouldn’t feel that good about the person.”

nHe seemed a little scared.

n“Does that mean we have to fix this place before the person comes back?”

nKairos frowned.

n“It means we have to get the hell out of here before that person finds out.”

nLing looked rather awkward.

n“Ah, right!”

nKairos looked around the place.

nPast all the trees that he had destroyed earlier, there were actually just more trees. Except those were actually normal, unlike the moving trees, or as the person who created them put it, ‘living oaks’.

nKairos massaged his temple with the tip of his finger.

n“Looks like we are just going to have to pick a direction.”

nLing looked around.

n“Where do we go then?”

nKairos put a finger on his chin.

n“You pick a direction.”

nLing seemed surprised.

n“Eh? Why me?”

nKairos rolled his eyes.

n“You have far better luck than me. Don’t you remember how I had to dodge all of those branches and roots while you just stood still?”

nLing pouted.

n“…But I think you are luckier because you can do so many things.”

nKairos clicked his tongue.

n“If I didn’t put in the effort, I wouldn’t be able to do the things that I can.”

nHe narrowed his eyes as he thought of the times he had stuck a knife into his body to increase his pain endurance.

n“It wasn’t always easy, but I still tried my hardest.”

nLing tilted his head to the side.

n“But… I’m also trying.”

nKairos clicked his tongue.

n“You know, you’re the kind of person I hate the most. The one that always says they were never lucky, or they’ve been doing all they could. Yet, in reality, it’s just handed to them every time.”

nLing looked down to the ground.

n“…Am I really that kind of person?”

nKairos paused for a moment, before letting out a sigh.

n“Well, I don’t really know. It’s just a feeling, I guess.”

nLing scratched the back of his head. He didn’t answer for a while, but instead pointed in a direction.

nKairos followed his finger, to see that it just led to an arbitrary part of the forest.

n“Hm?”

nLing blinked a few times.

n“You wanted me to pick a direction, right?”

nKairos nodded.

n“Ah, yeah.”

nLing pressed his lips together.

n“I choose this direction.”

nKairos cracked his neck.

n“Then let’s go.”

nHe began jogging in that direction and Ling followed from behind.

nThe forest consisted mostly of tall and narrow trees. The ground was rather bumpy. If a car had to traverse this kind of trail, then it would give hell to the people riding it.

nTwigs, leaves, and rocks littered the area, all of various sizes.

nEach time they stepped was usually accompanied by a crunch of some sort. Kairos was able to navigate it rather easily. As for Ling, his stats made him on par with professionals in physical aspects, yet he still ended up stumbling on things, tripping on rocks, and other such things.

nKairos couldn’t help but feel a little baffled that was even possible, wondering if he was faking it.

nNonetheless, he didn’t care enough to ask, opting to slow down so that Ling could keep up.

nThough, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to ask about anything.

n“Hey, if you see a noticeably bright blue light, or one that looks suspicious, tell me.”

nLing nodded.

n“Um, ok.”

nThey continued to run through the forest for quite a while, making it seem endless. Kairos was wondering if there was any way he could get back with the others. The easiest way would be to get back to the city that Tiana was in since he believed that they would surely come back to that place at some point.

nHowever, he also had no idea how to get there.

nLing stammered and tripped over a rock.

n“U-Um… when are we going to see the others again?”

nKairos ducked under a branch.

n“Once we find them, what else?”

nLing scratched the back of his head.

n“A-Ah, ok.”

nKairos began wondering if Ling was naturally born this way, or if he was somehow raised to become like this. Either way, he didn’t really like him.

nThough considering that Ling had pulled him out of the ground, basically saving his life, he would bear with him.

nAfter traveling for about thirty or so minutes, Ling was panting heavily. Kairos wanted to go faster, but held back anyways.

nAs for Ling, he couldn’t help but speak up.

n“U-Um!”

nKairos slowed to a stop and sighed.

n“Do you need to take a break?”

nTo his surprise, Ling shook his head.

n“Er, no. I saw a really bright blue thing.”

nKairos raised an eyebrow.

n“Ah, where is it?”

nLing pointed slightly off track from the direction they were already running.

n“Over there, it feels really far away though.”

nKairos nodded.

n“Alright, thanks for remembering that.”

nLing kept his head down and scratched the back of his head. As for Kairos, he did not wait up or ask for a ‘you’re welcome’.

nHe would rather not waste time anyway, and ran towards the new place with mana.

nAs for Ling, he broke out of his stupor once Kairos had gone off before hurriedly chasing after him.

nWhen Ling had said that it was far away, he wasn’t exaggerating. In fact, he might’ve even made an understatement. After they ran for a few minutes or so, Kairos turned to Ling who was tripping over himself to follow.

n“Hey, did we pass it yet?”

nLing gasped for air.

n“Um… no… but we are a bit closer.”

nKairos raised an eyebrow.

n“Is it truly that big?”

nLing put his hands on his knees.

n“I… I’m not sure. But I think that it should be getting closer.”

nThey continued to run for ten minutes. Though Kairos wasn’t running full speed to let Ling follow, that didn’t change the fact that they had covered quite the distance.

nKairos narrowed his eyes.

n“Are you sure that this is a bright blue light?”

nLing gasped for air.

n“Y-Yes…”

nKairos let out a soft sigh.

n“Alright.”

nThey continued to run through the forest for another fifteen or so minutes, and that was when Ling suddenly stopped running. Kairos turned around to look at him.

n“Are we here?”

nLing shook his head. He had both hands covering his eye with partial heterochromia and seemed to be in pain.

n“It’s… so bright.”

nKairos blinked a few times.

n“That bad?”

nLing nodded and hunched over. It was fairly clear that he couldn’t take it anymore.

nKairos couldn’t help but grow even more curious about whatever was emitted such strong mana fluctuations that someone ended up being blinded by it. When he stopped to really focus on his sensations, he could just barely tell that the air felt different.

nIt was as though the air was slightly heavier than usual.

nKairos looked at Ling.

n“From the time you originally pointed us in this direction, how much further do you think this bright blue light is?”

nLing was panting slightly, but still answered.

n“It… it should be really close.”

nHe shook his head.

n“But getting any closer hurts too much for me.”

nKairos nodded.

n“Do you think that you can survive by yourself?”

nLing blinked a few times.

n“Um… I…”

nKairos cracked his neck.

n“To be frank, I’m too curious to ignore whatever this thing emitting so much mana is, and I don’t really care about you.”

nLing looked down to the floor.

n“O-Oh.”

nKairos paused before letting out a sigh.

n“Are you not confident in surviving by yourself?”

nLing scratched the back of his head.

n“I don’t know.”

nKairos crouched down and looked at him.

n“Then how about you find out?”

nLing looked taken aback.

n“Huh?”

nKairos took a deep breath.

n“I genuinely believe that everyone can be a strong person, but sometimes they just need the right opportunity to become one.”

nLing furrowed his brows.

n“You think… I can become strong?”

nKairos chuckled.

n“Well, no.”

nLing looked a little sad when he heard that, but Kairos quickly followed up.

n“I know that you can become strong. That’s just how people are.”

nLing opened his mouth slightly.

n“Then… I want to try.”

nKairos raised an eyebrow.

n“It won’t be easy, you know?”

nLing nodded.

nKairos let out a soft sigh.

n“Honestly, the objective probability of you surviving is low, but with how you are right now…”

nHe shrugged his shoulders.

n“I feel like you will be able to defy all odds and do it.”

nLing pressed his lips together.

n“R-Really?”

nKairos chuckled.

n“I mean, I don’t really know. I’m still a firm believer in probability in the end.”

nHe then untied the sack with the green orbs and pulled one out. In one smooth motion, he held it out towards Ling.

nAs for Ling, he seemed confused.

n“Um, what are you doing?”

nKairos rolled his eyes.

n“It’s a gift. If you ever need to recover badly, whether it be injuries, mana, or even stress, you can break this open and drink it.”

nLing’s lips parted slightly.

n“A… gift?”

nKairos raised an eyebrow.

n“It’s not that big of a deal, alright? I still have fourteen of these.”

nLing reached out for it with a trembling hand, almost like he had just won the lottery. And when he grabbed onto it, he had conviction.

n“T-Thank you.”

nKairos waved his hand dismissively.

n“It’s whatever.”

nLing looked down at the green orb while holding onto it with both hands.

n“It’s… my birthday today.”

nKairos raised an eyebrow.

n“Ah, then happy birthday.”

nHe stood up.

n“Anyways, I’m going to go now, stay safe.”

nLing nodded, remaining silent.

nKairos began walking away, but turned around after a few steps.

n“Hey, thanks again for saving me from that tree thing. And… sorry for being a little rude to you.”

nLing did not respond, but Kairos was not waiting for a response. He continued to make his way toward whatever was emitting tremendous amounts of mana.

nAnd once he left, Ling was left alone, still holding onto the green orb. For quite a while, he just stood there without moving.

nThen, he abruptly burst out in tears.

nLing muttered to himself.

n“It’s also the first time I’ve gotten a gift…”

nKairos began running through the forest. At first, he was taking it slow, but then realized that he didn’t have to wait up for Ling, so he nearly began running at full speed. Feeling the wind rush past him was quite cooling.

nHe wished that he had his glasses though, so that it could block the wind from his eyes.

nNonetheless, Kairos could still see, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he missed it.

nYet, right as he was thinking that, he cast away those thoughts.

nKairos had come across a clearing in the forest, where there were no trees for hundreds of meters. Instead, there was a giant blue crystal, emitting a faint glow.

n