"Not many people know, but Zale Azarel had saved the life of his mother and his father when Salazar was barely seven years old. If Zale weren't there, Salazar would have grown up an orphan," Riali told Rowen as he sighed.
"And now Salazar wants to protect Lucifer. Too bad, he's already too late," Rowen muttered as he looked towards the closed door.
....
The vast ocean that covered more than half the world seemed to be unstable near the beaches of Elisium.
Massive tides could be seen surging through the marsh as each wave that hit the beach came light-struck and broad-shouldered, with all the raw power the moon could bestow.
The bright moon accompanied tides, providing the much-needed light. As the surface of the sea shone under the moonlight, the bottom of the sea seemed to be filled with darkness.
In an unknown corner of the sea, a young boy's body was lying, unmoving.
Surprisingly, a hole could be seen in the chest of the boy, whose entire body was completely pale. There were no expressions on the face. He wasn't breathing either as he laid there in eternal silence.
Three months had passed since the silver-haired boy was first thrown in the sea, and it was uncertain if he was ever going to come out.
...
Under the bright moon, an old man could be seen walking through a village.
The old man seemed to be in his sixties. As for his head, it was covered with long white hair. He also supported a white beard that seemed to suit his face.
The man seemed to be going somewhere when someone called out from behind.
"Grandpa Chi, are you going to the sea again? The sea isn't stable for swimming at this time. Don't go!"
A middle-aged man noticed the old man leaving and tried to stop him.
"The sea is always suitable for me as the chaos of the sea is where I find my true peace," the old man replied as he smiled.
"Grandpa Chi, listen to me. You might die if you go this time. The times are different. Go later," the middle-aged man again said.
"Death? Death is but a different name of sleep. If I am scared to sleep, how will I see my demons in the dream?" The old man replied as he continued walking. "One day, everyone will fall into this sleep. There's no need to worry."
Soon, he left, disappearing into the horizon as he walked to the beach.
The middle-aged man was left behind, sighing.
"This man is really crazy. It seems like he doesn't want to live. It's his life. I already tried the best I could," the middle-aged man muttered as he walked back into his own house.
As he entered his bedroom, he realized that his wife was already up.
"Where did you go?" His wife asked him as she rubbed her eyes.
"I went to drink water when I saw that old man leaving. Then I started trying to stop him," the middle-aged man replied as he climbed the bed.
"You mean that crazy old man? He was going to the sea even at times like this?" The woman asked her husband.
"What can I say? He really is crazy. Who knows, maybe he might not even be able to return this time," the middle-aged man replied.
"Sigh, you tried your best. Don't worry about him. It's not like he's our relative. He doesn't even have a family. Let him live the life he wants. In any case, it's not like he'll certainly die. You know he's a Variant, right? He can survive in the sea," the woman said as she laid on the bed. "Don't worry and sleep."
"You're right but still, whatever. It's not my responsibility to babysit that guy," the man said as he also laid down on the bed.
....
The old man reached the beach and stared at the sea, which he felt was his home.
He was a Variant that was able to breathe underwater and swim in the sea like he was made for it.
He had been doing the same thing every year since his young days when he awakened his powers for the first time.
Every year, he came to the beach and jumped inside the sea. He tried to go as far as he could and explored the vast ocean as much as he could before coming back.
Even though the sea was not perfectly calm right now, he didn't worry as he stepped closer to the water before he was fully submerged in water.
As the man entered the sea, he started swimming, without stopping.
He swam the entire night and then the entire day as he enjoyed the silence of the sea. Even though it was unstable on the surface, it seemed to be perfectly calm near the bottom where the old man was swimming.
Even though the man seemed to be old, not a single person would have been able to guess that after seeing the speed he swam at.
He observed the exotic plantation and the various sea creatures in the bottom of the sea as he kept moving further.
This time, he had chosen a different direction to move towards, unaware that it was where he was going to find something which had the potential of changing his entire life.
As the man kept swimming, two days passed but he didn't stop.
Days turned to week as he kept swimming. He only stopped occasionally as he ate the sea plants, which kept him energized. His body could perfectly work just from eating that. He didn't even need to come out of the water.
Soon, weeks turned to a month as the man reached closer to his destiny.
He was still swimming ahead as he observed the changed texture of the ground, which he hadn't seen before, surprisingly. There were also a few plants that he had seen for the first time.
He stopped near one of those plants as he started observing it.
'Really pretty,' he thought as his fingers touched the plant, but it didn't take him long to realize that there was something else in the distance.
He could see what seemed like a body lying on the ground at some distance from him.
Leaving the plants behind, he started approaching the body.
Soon, he reached the body of a young boy who seemed to be tied to a heavy object to make sure that he drowned. There was also a hole in his chest which seemed gruesome.
'What a cruel world. People can even kill kids nowadays,' the man thought as he sighed.