“What is this?”
Kairos 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.
‘Commands
1 – Collect living creatures with medium or above mana amounts and transform them into living oaks.
2 – Tend to any existing living oaks and nurture them.
3 – Await my arrival’
Kairos furrowed his brows.
Ling also took a peek at the paper.
“What…”
Kairos sighed.
“It looks like these are orders for this weird plant thing.”
He furrowed his brows.
“In other words, there is someone controlling these things somehow.”
Ling let out a small gasp.
“They can… control them?”
Kairos clicked his tongue.
“It basically means that this person is probably much stronger than these creatures and we are now sitting in his trashed-up garden.”
Ling scratched the back of his head.
“Will the person forgive us?”
Kairos shook his head.
“Would you forgive someone that destroyed your garden that you spent lots of time on?”
Ling blinked a few times.
“Well… I wouldn’t feel that good about the person.”
He seemed a little scared.
“Does that mean we have to fix this place before the person comes back?”
Kairos frowned.
“It means we have to get the hell out of here before that person finds out.”
Ling looked rather awkward.
“Ah, right!”
Kairos looked around the place.
Past 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’.
Kairos massaged his temple with the tip of his finger.
“Looks like we are just going to have to pick a direction.”
Ling looked around.
“Where do we go then?”
Kairos put a finger on his chin.
“You pick a direction.”
Ling seemed surprised.
“Eh? Why me?”
Kairos rolled his eyes.
“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?”
Ling pouted.
“…But I think you are luckier because you can do so many things.”
Kairos clicked his tongue.
“If I didn’t put in the effort, I wouldn’t be able to do the things that I can.”
He narrowed his eyes as he thought of the times he had stuck a knife into his body to increase his pain endurance.
“It wasn’t always easy, but I still tried my hardest.”
Ling tilted his head to the side.
“But… I’m also trying.”
Kairos clicked his tongue.
“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.”
Ling looked down to the ground.
“…Am I really that kind of person?”
Kairos paused for a moment, before letting out a sigh.
“Well, I don’t really know. It’s just a feeling, I guess.”
Ling scratched the back of his head. He didn’t answer for a while, but instead pointed in a direction.
Kairos followed his finger, to see that it just led to an arbitrary part of the forest.
“Hm?”
Ling blinked a few times.
“You wanted me to pick a direction, right?”
Kairos nodded.
“Ah, yeah.”
Ling pressed his lips together.
“I choose this direction.”
Kairos cracked his neck.
“Then let’s go.”
He began jogging in that direction and Ling followed from behind.
The 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.
Twigs, leaves, and rocks littered the area, all of various sizes.
Each 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.
Kairos couldn’t help but feel a little baffled that was even possible, wondering if he was faking it.
Nonetheless, he didn’t care enough to ask, opting to slow down so that Ling could keep up.
Though, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to ask about anything.
“Hey, if you see a noticeably bright blue light, or one that looks suspicious, tell me.”
Ling nodded.
“Um, ok.”
They 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.
However, he also had no idea how to get there.
Ling stammered and tripped over a rock.
“U-Um… when are we going to see the others again?”
Kairos ducked under a branch.
“Once we find them, what else?”
Ling scratched the back of his head.
“A-Ah, ok.”
Kairos 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.
Though considering that Ling had pulled him out of the ground, basically saving his life, he would bear with him.
After traveling for about thirty or so minutes, Ling was panting heavily. Kairos wanted to go faster, but held back anyways.
As for Ling, he couldn’t help but speak up.
“U-Um!”
Kairos slowed to a stop and sighed.
“Do you need to take a break?”
To his surprise, Ling shook his head.
“Er, no. I saw a really bright blue thing.”
Kairos raised an eyebrow.
“Ah, where is it?”
Ling pointed slightly off track from the direction they were already running.
“Over there, it feels really far away though.”
Kairos nodded.
“Alright, thanks for remembering that.”
Ling 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’.
He would rather not waste time anyway, and ran towards the new place with mana.
As for Ling, he broke out of his stupor once Kairos had gone off before hurriedly chasing after him.
When 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.
“Hey, did we pass it yet?”
Ling gasped for air.
“Um… no… but we are a bit closer.”
Kairos raised an eyebrow.
“Is it truly that big?”
Ling put his hands on his knees.
“I… I’m not sure. But I think that it should be getting closer.”
They 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.
Kairos narrowed his eyes.
“Are you sure that this is a bright blue light?”
Ling gasped for air.
“Y-Yes…”
Kairos let out a soft sigh.
“Alright.”
They 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.
“Are we here?”
Ling shook his head. He had both hands covering his eye with partial heterochromia and seemed to be in pain.
“It’s… so bright.”
Kairos blinked a few times.
“That bad?”
Ling nodded and hunched over. It was fairly clear that he couldn’t take it anymore.
Kairos 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.
It was as though the air was slightly heavier than usual.
Kairos looked at Ling.
“From the time you originally pointed us in this direction, how much further do you think this bright blue light is?”
Ling was panting slightly, but still answered.
“It… it should be really close.”
He shook his head.
“But getting any closer hurts too much for me.”
Kairos nodded.
“Do you think that you can survive by yourself?”
Ling blinked a few times.
“Um… I…”
Kairos cracked his neck.
“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.”
Ling looked down to the floor.
“O-Oh.”
Kairos paused before letting out a sigh.
“Are you not confident in surviving by yourself?”
Ling scratched the back of his head.
“I don’t know.”
Kairos crouched down and looked at him.
“Then how about you find out?”
Ling looked taken aback.
“Huh?”
Kairos took a deep breath.
“I genuinely believe that everyone can be a strong person, but sometimes they just need the right opportunity to become one.”
Ling furrowed his brows.
“You think… I can become strong?”
Kairos chuckled.
“Well, no.”
Ling looked a little sad when he heard that, but Kairos quickly followed up.
“I know that you can become strong. That’s just how people are.”
Ling opened his mouth slightly.
“Then… I want to try.”
Kairos raised an eyebrow.
“It won’t be easy, you know?”
Ling nodded.
Kairos let out a soft sigh.
“Honestly, the objective probability of you surviving is low, but with how you are right now…”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“I feel like you will be able to defy all odds and do it.”
Ling pressed his lips together.
“R-Really?”
Kairos chuckled.
“I mean, I don’t really know. I’m still a firm believer in probability in the end.”
He then untied the sack with the green orbs and pulled one out. In one smooth motion, he held it out towards Ling.
As for Ling, he seemed confused.
“Um, what are you doing?”
Kairos rolled his eyes.
“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.”
Ling’s lips parted slightly.
“A… gift?”
Kairos raised an eyebrow.
“It’s not that big of a deal, alright? I still have fourteen of these.”
Ling 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.
“T-Thank you.”
Kairos waved his hand dismissively.
“It’s whatever.”
Ling looked down at the green orb while holding onto it with both hands.
“It’s… my birthday today.”
Kairos raised an eyebrow.
“Ah, then happy birthday.”
He stood up.
“Anyways, I’m going to go now, stay safe.”
Ling nodded, remaining silent.
Kairos began walking away, but turned around after a few steps.
“Hey, thanks again for saving me from that tree thing. And… sorry for being a little rude to you.”
Ling 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.
And once he left, Ling was left alone, still holding onto the green orb. For quite a while, he just stood there without moving.
Then, he abruptly burst out in tears.
Ling muttered to himself.
“It’s also the first time I’ve gotten a gift…”
Kairos 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.
He wished that he had his glasses though, so that it could block the wind from his eyes.
Nonetheless, Kairos could still see, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he missed it.
Yet, right as he was thinking that, he cast away those thoughts.
Kairos 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.