After collecting his belongings, Talon started walking again. Since it was still night, the world was rather dark except for the light coming from the beautiful stars in the sky. Myriad of cosmic colors garnished the night and made it look almost ethereal.
Beautiful cosmic clouds painted the dark sky with shiny colors. Distant galaxies and planets could be seen with the naked eye from down there. It was a sight far more beautiful than anything Talon could've seen on earth.
It was as if Talon was in the embrace of the universe, simply walking on an endless journey filled with mystical sights and grandiose events. Yet, not even such a beautiful moment made him look up. His mind was simply in a completely different world.
Looking down, he let his legs walk on their own while he contemplated what just happened silently. Even with the realization that it was merely a nightmare, the fact that he heard such things from his mother affected him.
He tried to convince himself that it was his insecure side that kept messing with him and yet he could not for the life of him ignore it. It was as if this small side had control over his mind whenever it wanted.
'Damn you... Damn you!' Clenching his fists, he tried to calm down. 'Why are you acting this way, of all times? Since when does my mother say such words, huh? I'm now all sad and bothered because of it?! Wake up!'
He didn't want to think about the words that the monster in his nightmare told him. He didn't want to give that side the pleasure of laughing at him.
At that moment, Talon suddenly punched himself, spitting out a small mouthful of blood as he swayed.
"Talon?!" Acrypha was taken aback by the sudden movement. "What are you doing?!"
"*Ptuh*..." Spitting out the rest of the blood, he wiped his mouth and finally looked at Acrypha. "I'm fine, just needed a good slap to wake up." He said.
"..."
"Let's go."
Without waiting for his companion to speak, he started walking again as if nothing happened.
'This kid... Sometimes I don't get him at all.' Rubbing her temples, Acrypha floated after him.
As much as she understood Talon's character, he would always surprise her with a new side that she had never seen before.
***
Several hours passed just like that and the two suns rose in the sky as the temperature skyrocketed again which made Talon put away his jacket again and started moving even faster. After two days of walking, he was starting to get accustomed to the weather or so he thought, at least.
He hated that he was sweating a lot, but since his body was now way more pure than before, even when he sweats it never smells bad. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The only times he does smell bad is when he is covered in the blood of his enemies.
'Hah... I have been walking for 6 hours now and nothing has changed.'
"Hey, Acrypha... How much did I walk so far?"
"Around 350 kilometers."
"..." Just hearing that number made Talon want to simply fall to the ground. He still had 2650 kilometers more to go which was going to take a full week to complete.
'It's all for your good, Talon. It's all for your good...' He tried to appease himself with those words as he started moving faster.
"I really want to simply start running till I get exhausted. It's better than walking this slow!"
"Be careful." Acrypha said.
"I know..." Nodding his head, Talon started approaching the hole carefully as he kept his spear ready for anything that might attack him.
When he reached the edge of the hole, he peeked down and he was immediately surprised by what he saw. Laying there, at the very bottom was an unconscious creature. Its form looked oddly similar to a human with four limbs, two eyes and mouth. In fact, this particular creature looked rather beautiful for a human.
Except, Talon was certain it wasn't one of his kind and the reason was very simple. Its skin was a transparent blue color, akin to water. With a closer look, Talon could even see this transparent liquid moving and swirling calmly like a serene lake. It wore some tattered clothes that covered most of its body except for its arms, legs, and face.
"... What is this?" He murmured as he stared at the oddly beautiful creature with confusion. "Is this even a monster?"
In his eyes, monsters were supposed to be ugly and hideous and so far that was the case since he only came across the most repulsive things this world could create. Yet, this thing was too mesmerizing to be a monster like the others or even be categorized with them.
'It seems to be a boy if I had to compare it to a normal human.' Rubbing the back of his head, he contemplated what he should do next.
The monster was clearly out of it after falling from the sky and it didn't seem to be that strong even as it is.
"Do you recognize it, Acrypha?"
"Hmm, it seems like a water creature of some kind. I can't say for sure without taking a closer look." She replied.
"A water creature?"
"Yeah, there are many creatures that are born from natural elements like water, wind, fire, and all other kinds of elements. But, not all of them are the same, so even in elements, there are a variety of creatures. This one is made out of water as you can see." She explained.
"Interesting... I didn't know that existed. So these aren't humans?"
"No, they aren't. But, if you put them on a spectrum, they're far closer to humans than to monsters. You could say that they are very human with a very intelligent mind." She replied.
'This one seems pretty unique. I know most of the water creatures that exist, but I can't seem to recognize this one at first glance. Are they a rare type?' She asked herself as she rubbed her chin.
As they were conversing like that, they heard a small whimper coming from the small boy. That made the duo turn around at the exact moment where his eyes opened wide, revealing a set of extremely mesmerizing sky-blue eyes that seemed to shine brightly on their own. Just one glance at them would make one fall into a dazed state with how beautiful they were.
"He's waking up." Talon said.
Blinking slowly, the boy seemed to still be in shock as he looked around before his eyes fell on Talon.
"Uh, hello there. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"..." The boy stared at him for a second before his eyes suddenly widened as he moved back in fear. "AAAAH!!!"
His scream took Talon by surprise. Before he could even react, the boy suddenly extended his hands forward and channeled Aetheris. His eyes shone even brighter as a ball of water formed in the palm of his hand.
Then, it quickly turned into a sharp blade before it flew from his hand. Talon was about to go into combat mode when he saw the attack but then realized something. The sharp blade flew a few inches before it suddenly disintegrated and turned into normal water again.
'W-Weak!! What is this weak attack?!' Talon thought to himself as he felt a strong urge to laugh at that moment.
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!