Chapter 35 - A New World (2)

Stunned by the mesmerizing, somber voice, Myra found herself in a daze. The fear, the sheer primal urge to shiver and cower has suddenly vanished as the man uttered the single, magical word.

As if the man knew exactly what her heart, body, and most importantly, soul needed to unlock something deep inside. Unknown emotions swelled from inside, as she looked at the otherworldly… boy in front of him.

Boy, or mayhaps a young man was a better phrase. Roughly matching their height, maybe just a couple of centimeters taller, with a lean, but still sporty build.

Fair, silky smooth skin, slightly pale, yet still vibrant, full of vitality. A long silvery flock of hair, cascading down below his shoulders, a pair of glowing marbles were gazing at her with such intensity that made her heart flutter with an unknown sensation.

Still, those incredible, almost unbelievable, deep, yet magical-looking eyes made not just Myra but the rest of the gang, Jake and Jai to turn speechless yet again.

Two golden irises stared back at them, which although by itself was beyond what they believed to be possible, but the star-shaped formation that glimmered with a bright hazel-brown luster... made their jaws almost fall as they stared dumbly at the unknown man.

Youthful, vigorous... from a first, yet closer glance, somewhere around their age, maybe around 18 years of age. A slender, lean frame yet still the toned shapes of muscles clearly visible. A body crafted to perfection.

"Itilth ien, darth ambar na-shur? Im odar ha nen lo'alth in gwoilth coe?"

Lost in the sight of the figure in front of them, a gradually shifting, modulating voice brought them out of their trance. The creature looked rather cold, frowning as he talked, asking two questions by the sound of it.

It was at this point, that they finally realized something crucial, that unbelievably flew by their minds a moment ago.

Myra, being the first to realize this critical detail, immediately covered her eyes and shrieked in a high-pitched tone, giving voice to her embarrassment.

The boys, as if waking up from a dream, realized the same critical detail, or actual lack thereof, making them fidget in place, and hastily reach for their backpack.

A few seconds later, Jake pulled out a simple long-sleeved light grey shirt, together with matching sweat pants, presenting it to the strange man. He forced a wry, somewhat bashful smile on his face as he spoke to the man.

He could only hope that despite the strange language he was speaking with, he would understand the motion of gifting and would dress up, covering his rather impressive, but still bare naked body.

"Hey, ehrm... d-dude..." Jake spoke up, suddenly finding the difficulty to just simply greet this unknown man much harder than he had expected, making him stumble and stutter a bit. Taking an extra second to exhale and calm his racing, raging mind he continued.

"...So, I am sure you have just as many questions as we do..." He said, adding another line muttering in his breath as he did: '...since you came out of the exploding mountain...'

Both Jake and Jai glanced downward at the man, raising their eyebrows in the process, trying to suggest the man cover up his fleshy baton.

---

[The events from Aziel's perspective]

As the cloud slowly but gradually settled, and he now had a clear sight of the three figures that he thought to be his welcoming committee, Aziel realized that the female was different. He frowned for a brief moment, squinting his eyes as he tried to glean deeper, beneath the flesh of the female that he somehow mistook for that primordial ape woman.

'Why did she remind me of her?' He pondered inwardly, finding himself lost in her sight. In the end, he remarked it to be his lingering guilt and regret betraying the feelings she had shown back then and leaving her behind to wallow in her sorrow.

Aziel sighed at his own faltering self, feeling conflicted by his own emotions. Shaking his head, he looked up at the trio and asked.

"Who are you three? What do you want?" He asked coldly. Realizing his voice was still rather dry, he actively focused his inner flow of [Aether] to refresh his vocal cords. Almost instantly, his dry, deep rumbling voice began to grow lighter-toned, somewhat matching his rather youthful-looking appearance.

Upon his questions, the three seemed to finally react, waking up from their stupor one after another. Yet, their reactions seemed slightly off, not what Aziel was expecting.

The female, whom he mistook for Dinah, seemed to circulate more of her blood towards her cheeks, making them go bright red. She hurriedly reached for her eyes and averted her gaze.

Her actions were perplexing, to say the least. From what he had seen, Aziel was almost certain he was bashful, embarrassed by something, yet he couldn't understand what could have induced it. He wasn't scared, he could no longer feel the sense of dread and terror from them. That, he was certain of.

'Weird...' Aziel thought, looking at the fidgeting figure of the young woman.

For the two boys, they also suddenly entered into haste turning towards the mysterious-looking bags they were carrying. They seemed to be in a hurry looking for something, making Aziel grow more and more curious by the second.

From what he could sense, just like the woman, they both also had an elevated, increased heart rate. They were also agitated, yet they weren't showing signs of fear, or anger.

Still, before Aziel could ponder on it some more, the middle one, the tallest of them all seemed to have found what he was looking for. A small smile crept on his expression as she turned around to face Aziel again and stepped forward.

He stepped forward, presenting a set of clothes, -similar to the strange, unique attire they all were wearing. With a powerless, stuttering, trembling tone, he began to speak. As soon as he did so, Aziel frowned yet again, realizing for the first time, that something may be amiss, that may be more time had passed than what he had intended to.

Still, in the very next moment, a smile began to show itself on his face.

The boy was speaking in a rather sophisticated manner. The language he was using had clearly used elaborate and complex sounds, requiring evolved, fully functioning vocal cords. He didn't roar and yell like the animals, he didn't use his hands to talk at all...

Aziel was quickly growing beyond elated, barely able to contain his swelling happiness. Did his seclusion propel him into an era that could finally end his eternal loneliness?

Deep in his own thoughts, Aziel was brought back to reality when suddenly a loud blaring horn-like sound came from a bit of distance from them.

He could sense several dozen creatures, similar to these three rapidly closing in on their direction...

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Hey, my dear readers!

Hope you have a blissfully happy holiday season, regardless of what you celebrate, stay happy and healthy!

From now on, we would settle in for a 1 Chapter / Day schedule with the following bonus features available to you all:

Powerstone Goals

100 Power Stones -> 1 Chapter,

200 Power Stones -> 2 Chapters,

300 Power Stones -> 3 Chapters,

Golden Ticket Goals:

50 Golden Tickets -> 1 Chapter,

100 Golden Tickets -> 2 Chapters,

150 Golden Tickets -> 3 Chapters.

Once we reach the target, I will immediately work on delivering the promised bonus as soon as possible.

Also, this is by all means not mandatory, but instead an incentive in case you wish to show your support! After these last two days of rest, I'm feeling ready and refreshed! Push me to my limits!