“… Are you sure about this, Arthur?” Watching Arthur step forward carefully, she asked with a frown. Seeing the playful look on Arthur’s face, she could only sigh inwardly. Arthur was clearly very curious about the shard and his curiosity had beaten every other rational thought he might have.
However, that was something Isla learned about Arthur over the past few days. The boy was a thrill seeker like no other. Even in their journey, he was always the first to step forward to explore the unknown.
She could see the deep sense of adventure engrained into his very bones. He loved everything that came with it even if it was something dangerous that could harm him.
That particular side of Arthur confused Isla greatly. How could someone be so reckless and happy to do things without prior planning or careful consideration? Her logical mind couldn’t comprehend the joy one might find in facing the unknown.
For her, knowing everything beforehand was essential. She had to be aware of all aspects of a situation before she put herself in that situation. This was something she learned with time trying to survive the political battlefield that is the Goldsmith family.
Arthur’s mindset and hers completely contradicted each other. Yet, for some reason, Isla didn’t find herself hating Arthur or finding him stupid. In fact, this nature of his fit him very well. His was like a breath of fresh air after being completely suffocated the entire time.
“Isla?”
“Hm?” Dazed, and deep in thought, Isla hummed.
“Snap out of it. I’m going to grab it. If something happens, be ready to move.” He said.
“I understand. Go ahead, I’m ready.” Grabbing her sword up, she got ready.”
“Ok… Here goes nothing.” Gulping down, Arthur slowly looked at the shard that was barely a few feet away from him. From this up close, he could feel its powerful presence even better, making him shudder.
‘What an insane object.’ He mused as he slowly stretched his hand forward. He didn’t find any resistance from the shard at all the entire time. Then, Arthur closed his eyes and grabbed it.
*Swish*
For a moment, Arthur didn’t feel anything except for the smooth surface of the crystal. It felt very pleasant to the touch and the warm light only made it feel even better. Other than that, nothing happened for a few seconds.
“Hm?” Arthur opened his eyes and looked at the shard with a frown. “Uh, that’s it?”
“Are you ok, Arthur?” Isla asked worriedly when she noticed that nothing happened.
“Yeah… I’m fine. I’m a little confused though.” He turned around and looked at her. “Nothing happ-”
Before Arthur could even finish the sentence, the shard suddenly unleashed a bright light, taking the duo by surprise. The light spread everywhere in an instant, reaching every corner of the foggy world.
Then, in a magical sight, the fog all around them started moving slowly, heading toward the ore. From every single angle, it crawled toward the source as if they were ants returning to their colony.
Reaching the shard, they were instantly absorbed inside. Huge amounts of fog moved into the shard, vanishing completely without leaving anything behind. Arthur and Isla watched with shock on their faces. In a matter of seconds, the foggy world they were in started crumbling. The walls were melting and so was the sky above.
‘The world… It’s crumbling.’ Isla thought to herself. ‘The shard is absorbing all of it.’
The shrouded world around them started revealing more details. The grassy ground beneath them, the trees around them, and the normal sky they were familiar with.
Less than a minute into this process, the two were already back inside the forest. However, the shard didn’t stop absorbing the fog yet. From every single place in the forest, the fog approached the shard, attracted by its divine light like a moth to the flame.
“It’s working, Isla!” Arthur exclaimed as his eyes lit up. “The forest is losing all its fog!”
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“…” Isla blinked before nodding. As the fog moved past her, she was completely speechless. The sight of Arthur holding that shard while the fog slowly moved toward him was… captivating.
Seeing the smile on his face while the power in his hand did that magic struck Isla. For a moment, her eyes flashed with a glint that vanished as fast as it appeared. The girl shook her head.
‘What am I even thinking about?’ She sighed.
A minute later, the absorption process finally came to an end. The result it left behind was simply ridiculous. The entire forest had lost all the mist that covered it and returned to its normal form. The eerie atmosphere vanished along with the fog, leaving behind nothing but normal stretches of land.
“…” Arthur and Isla stared around them at the result in awe. Then, Arthur received a notification.
[Ding!]
[You have acquired a ‘Broken Shard Piece’.]
[Ding!]
[Your main class has evolved.]
[You have acquired a new secondary class.]
“…” Arthur blinked. “What…?”
Seeing the look of confusion on Arthur’s face, Isla approached Arthur. “What happened?”
The boy didn’t reply immediately as he continued reading the notifications. Then, he looked up at Isla.
“Is that a divine shard as you said?” She asked.
“Yes… And no.” He replied.
“What do you mean?”
“This isn’t a Divine Shard. It’s a broken part of a Divine Shard.” He replied as he lifted the shard up.
“A broken part… Wait, does that mean?”
“Yes… This isn’t the full thing. Perhaps the rest of the shard is somewhere else.”
‘But, why is the shard broken? And what is a part of it doing here? No, scratch that, how is a small part of the shard capable of all this power?!’ Arthur’s brain filled up with questions. He was very confused and yet also very excited at the same time.
His prediction was right in a sense. But, he had one single mistake. He had underestimated the divine shards greatly. Thinking that this small piece was the full thing because of the shocking sights it had given them wasn’t right.
The Divine Shard was, in simple terms, way stronger than that. That fact alone sent chills down Arthur’s back.
‘So this is why people are ready to die to get their hands on these things. Such a power… how is it even fair? If someone gets their hand on one of these, they are invincible. They cannot be defeated anymore.’ Arthur thought to himself.
All the wars and bloodshed for these things had suddenly started making sense to Arthur. Before, it was a mere thought he had that had no real proof behind it. But, now, while holding a small piece of the divine object, he realized that he was indeed mocking these things.
The power of a full shard wasn’t something his brain could comprehend let alone predict.
“But, now that we found one of these… What are we supposed to do with it?” He muttered.
Isla looked at Arthur and then at the shard. “It’s yours now.” She replied coldly.
“Huh? What are you talking about? We found it together.” Arthur raised his eyebrows as he started walking after Isla.
“No, you grabbed it first so it’s yours now. I’m not taking it.”
“I cannot accept that.”
Although Arthur would be lying if he said he wasn’t very curious about what this shard could do, that didn’t mean that he was simply going to lose all integrity because of that. Isla was the one who alerted him to the shard and they both saw it at the same time, it was only right they find a way to share their findings.
“No. The first to grab it keeps it.” She replied without looking back.
“I won’t take that. I wasn’t the only one to find it.”
“It’s an order.”
“I don’t work under you.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
‘Why is she so stubborn? Wait, I’m also really stubborn.’ Arthur frowned. ‘Why doesn’t she want to share it with me? It’s the rarest item we have found so far.’
Arthur couldn’t understand what was going through Isla’s head at that moment. As far as he was concerned, this item could benefit her plans greatly for the future. It would be the most logical step to take it or at least share it with him. As the two went back and forth, trying to convince one another of their opinion, they suddenly heard a yell.
“Isla!! Arthur!! Oiii!!!”
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3