《The Wish of an Eternity》 Chapter 1 - Chronos Sagrad There was an adventurer who went by the name Chronos Sagrad. Just like everybody else, he started off as a novice, but went up the ranks fast unlike the rest, or rather, he became strong without anyone noticing him. What does that mean? Since adventurers are common in this world, the establishment of an organization that deals with adventurers became inevitable. This organization was called Council of Adventurers, or The Council in short. Along with the establishment of the Council were certain rules and a ranking system. Once registered, one would have to take care following the rules, and of course, they would be ranked based on their exam score. The seven ranks are: beginner, intermediate, advanced, superior, heroic, master, and grand master. One would be given a starting rank based on their exam score, but after that they would have to work on ranking up step by step until they reach the top. There were also those who choose not to have anything to do with The Council. There are reasons for this. As an adventurer under The Council, one will have to follow the processes and procedures concerning quests and explorations. One would not be allowed to take quests two ranks higher than their own. For example, if one is an intermediate level adventurer, they will only be able to accept quests of their level up to advanced and no higher than that. Another reason was because The Council will publicize one¡¯s achievements which in turn makes it difficult to stay low profile. As someone who disliked the idea of a ranking system, and wanting to stay anonymous, Chronos became one of the Freelance Adventurers. It¡¯s funny because adventurers are already freelancers to begin with. Adding freelance on top of that would make them "freelance freelancers". Oh well, times have changed and adventurers under The Council are now considered fully employed. Of course, that doesn''t mean there isn''t a single disadvantage to becoming a freelance adventurer. First of all, one will not get any support from The Council. Travel funds, healing funds, and access to plethora of quests doesn''t exist which makes it difficult to set out on a journey. If one wanted to travel, they will have to use their own resources regardless of quest fee, and they will have to walk from house to house if they wanted a chance for a quest. Sometimes freelance adventurers even had to go through some shady taverns in order to get quests.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Well, Chronos had his reasons for being a freelance adventurer. It wasn''t because of some grand dream of saving the world and slaying villains. It was rather simple, but perhaps, it still isn''t the time to talk about his drive or personality. Instead, let us talk about what happened just recently which brought him to his current situation. He was exploring a certain dungeon. A dungeon filled with crystals. A dungeon with conflicting tales and history. Some say it is safe to explore. Some say anyone shouldn''t be allowed near it. Others say a guardian of light sleeps within. While there are those who say a guardian of darkness lives there. Defeated by his own curiosity, Chronos challenged the dungeon all by himself just like usual. At first, the dungeon seemed to match the peaceful stories he heard from a nearby town, but as he went deeper and deeper, he met it. A being of complete blackness. What kind of being it was is debatable. After all, Chronos could only see the pitch-black, violent stormy aura surrounding the entity. Chronos only heard a few words before he was defeated. "You dare set foot in my sanctuary?!" These were the unknown entity''s words. It was an instant after that. Chronos received a fatal wound in the stomach. He was given a hole the size of an adult''s fists without even the chance to fight back. His eyes trembled along with his whole body. His sense of fear came back to him for the first time after so long. Not only his sense of fear but the feeling of inevitable death came to him. His life flashed before him. The time when he was first trained by his father at the age of seven, and when he first set out on a journey alone at the age of twelve. Many years have passed and he was now twenty. He had a dream. It was a simple dream, and yet, it appeared impossible to fulfill in his current state. He realized that he was no match against the entity he was facing. Even as he received a fatal wound, even though his liver was completely crushed, he clung to life. He was clinging to life not because he wanted to live. He knew it was over the moment he received that wound. He knew he could never be saved. He knew that death was inevitable, but he at least wanted to die somewhere peaceful. He hastily ran towards the dungeon¡¯s exit. With each step, blood splattered. With each jump, a portion of his life was drained out. Fortunately, the entity covered in blackness didn''t bother chasing him. Maybe it knew not to waste its energy as death was inevitable to the wounded human anyway. Chronos on the other hand, "Phew... That was close. Wait, I''m about to die anyway. He he... Ha ha ha-ughh... This is it for me huh?" He murmured to no one in particular as he laid his half-dead body in the middle of a grassy plain. He felt immense pain when he tried to laugh. It was a sign that he was still alive. It was a sign that he still had blood flowing through his veins, but for how long would he last? It was near, the abyss of death was calling upon him. He spoke one last time before closing his eyes to meet his demise. "At least I will die in a place as peaceful as this. Couldn''t ask for more." He closed his eyes with a smile as he said this. Unbeknownst to him, a mysterious girl was nearby. A girl filled with white. Eyes, hair, even her clothes were white. The girl went to take a look at the adventurer who was about to become a corpse. She whispered, "May you rest in peace." Chapter 2 - Riel Eteria Chronos heard a soft whisper wishing him to "rest in peace" before completely losing consciousness. That was the last thing he heard before diving in a bottomless pit of darkness. "Sure thing." Was his reply, but.... "Ughh! It hurts... It hurts so much! What''s with this pain?!" The pain that seemed to be coming from his stomach got worse and worse as his consciousness slowly came back to him. Unable to understand what was happening, he tried opening his eyes. "What''s this.... My eyes are so heavy. I can''t...." But his eyes just closed on its own whenever he tried to open them. He was overcome with the feeling of sleepiness, and that feeling prevented him from fully opening his eyes. Still, he managed to see even just a tiny bit of his surroundings as he was forcing his eyes open. "A girl?" Was what he noticed. A girl with white hair and white eyes. He couldn''t make out her appearance as he could barely see, but the girl looked like she was a few years younger than him. He opened his mouth in an attempt to try speaking, but... "I can''t speak?!" He tried to speak and move, but to no avail. He could only breath and move his eyes a bit. That was about the only function his body was capable of. "I see... Looks like I got paralyzed. I guess this is still better than being dead?" He wasn''t so sure if being paralyzed was truly better than being dead, especially with the immense pain coming from his stomach, but he felt relieved thinking that it is still possible for him to resume his journey someday. Still, who was that girl? Was she his savior? Did she take care of him while he was unconscious? "She looks younger than me, but isn''t she kind of...." He noticed it. The discrepancy between the girl''s appearance and her manners. "Isn''t she kind of matured?" From the way she eats to the way she takes care of him, her actions and manner are far different from her young appearance. The way she looks at him, with eyes that have no hint of pity nor worry. The way she carefully touches his wounds, and even the way she walks with her hands behind her back. "Is she actually an old lady? No, no. That''s not possible." Chronos reached a point where he thought the girl was actually really old, but he quickly dismissed the idea thinking that it was too ridiculous. Instead, he decided to take a more neutral stance. Something as simple as "The girl is young, but she is more matured than her age suggests." "Sigh... when will I be able to resume my journey?" His concern was on point. Who knew when his paralyzed body will go back to normal? No doctors, healers, and priests could tell when someone will wake up from paralysis. "Only time will tell." was their favorite phrase when it came to paralyzed patients. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "I''m really sleepy. I guess I''ll give up for now." Finally, he gave up to his sleepiness. He was glad that someone was taking care of him, but there was no way he would be able to thank her properly. What he needed to do was allow his body to recover, and the best way to do so would be to sleep. He fought against it for a bit out of curiosity towards his surroundings, but he knew deep inside that sleepiness was a sign that his body was asking him to rest. Just then, he felt something warm on his forehead. "A.... towel?" And he fell asleep just like that. ***~~~*** ***~~~*** A couple of days later, or perhaps a week later..... "Ahh..." Chronos regained his consciousness once more after sleeping it away. Unlike the last time, he was able to open his eyes properly. It also seemed like he could already somewhat move. "Good morning." A soft voice greeted the Chronos who was still lying on the bed. "G-good morning..." Chronos hesitantly greeted back as he pushed his upper body up. A towel that was on his forehead dropped as he got up while the owner of the voice warned him. "It is best for you not to move too much as you still haven''t fully recovered, but congratulations on getting out of your paralyzed state." Just as the voice finished speaking, Chronos realized something. "The girl?!" He thought. He slowly moved his neck towards the direction of the voice, and there. His eyes widened and glowed in surprise while his mouth opened agape. What he saw was a girl of short stature. She was only chest-level of Chronos, but she wasn''t in any way a person to underestimate. Chronos wasn''t sure about her age, but one thing was certain. The girl was way more than one might think. Not only was her manner of speech but her expressions are composed and calm as well. But what surprised Chronos the most was the fact that the girl was Pure White. Eyes, hair, skin, and even her clothes were white. Well, she was wearing somewhat ordinary looking clothes, but it made Chronos remember something. "Guardian of Light..." The girl heard his accidental whisper but it seemed like she didn''t catch what he was saying. "hmm? Sorry, I didn''t hear you." "Ahh... no, sorry for murmuring. I just remembered something." "..." "Where am I? Is this your house?" The girl made a "hmmm...." sound as she was holding her chin before finally speaking. "You could say that this is my house. Rather, this whole land could be considered my home." Chronos was unable to comprehend the girl''s words. Still, he was grateful to have been allowed here and didn''t try asking more. "Are you hungry or thirsty? Does your stomach hurt?" "Ahh no. Surprisingly, I am fine...." "I see." After a couple of words from one another, the whole place became filled with silence. Chronos could only hear the calming sounds of nature: the chirping of the birds, the sound of the leaves being caressed by the wind, the sound of a river flowing among other sounds. Chronos decided to close his eyes and turn his face up a little to get a feel of the white noise. The girl briefly looked at the smiling Chronos with contentment before continuing her work. Moments later, Chronos decided to finally give up to his curiosity. They say that adventurers are a ball of curiosity and Chronos wasn''t an exception to this. "I''ve been thinking about this, but what are you doing?" He asked the girl who was sitting on the wooden ground with her legs crossed ever since he woke up. "Making potions." She answered in as few words as possible. Well, to be completely honest, it was obvious. She was brewing and bottling liquids, but Chronos had never seen a potion that looked as clear and as colorless as water. "So those are potions?" He asked. The girl nodded before speaking, "This one is to cure terminal illnesses, that one is for wounds and then this one was what I used on that towel on your forehead. It is to undo curses and purify corruption. And then lastly, a potion meant to speed up blood production." She calmly talked about her potions one by one with her forefinger pointing at the bottles. For some reason Chronos couldn''t help but think of her as a child no matter how adult-like her manners were. There was something about her that made him think of her as such. "I wonder what that is..." He whispered. Just then he remembered someone wishing him to rest in peace. "Say, was it you who wished me to ''rest in peace''?" The girl answered with a simple yes as she continued making potions. Chronos on the other hand, "Then why am I still alive? Why are you taking care of me?" An imaginary question mark appeared on the girl¡¯s head with a "hmm?" on a questioning tone. Then she remembered. "Ahh! I totally forgot that humans usually use that phrase to wish the dead eternal peace." She said, but Chronos got completely baffled by her words. "Aren''t you also human?" And the girl''s answer turned his world upside down for a moment. "I am one of the six guardians of El-Sagra and one of the four guardians of light. Riel Eteria. Nice to meet you, Chronos." Chapter 3 - A Journey Towards Their Wishes Chronos'' eyes widened. He stood up unintentionally stomping the wooden floor which produced a sound as if something snapped. "I see, I see.... Wait, What?! Riel Eteria?! As in the Guardian of Light?!" There were showers of saliva as he shouted in disbelief. "I already told you not to move too much... And yup, I am Riel Eteria." The girl who''s apparently named Riel calmly warned him once more while he could only apologize for his sudden reckless movements, especially for him rudely stomping the floor. "R-right... Sorry. You really surprised me there." And then Chronos remembered. "Wait... You knew my name?" "As one of the guardians, I can see things that others can''t. It isn''t to say that I can see everything. I can only see things that people aren''t trying to hide. That includes the name given to you by your parents." She explained. Chronos still in disbelief, frowned his eyebrows. Still, he didn''t want to be rude to his savior and decided to keep things to himself. Just then, Riel stood up quick holding something and walked towards his direction. Thinking that he somehow made the girl angry, he tightly closed his eyes prepared to accept his punishment. "Have some potatoes." "Huh?" "I said have some potatoes." "T-thanks..." "..." "This potato is pretty big..." He thought as he inspected the still warm potato that was just handed to him. He took a bite after a few seconds and, "Ohh.. Oooohh!! This is good!" "Hey! Your potato really ish gowd!" He spoke his praises while munching on the potato. "You can have as much as you like. I happen to have a lot in stock." She replied with a mild smile on her face. She appeared satisfied seeing her patient happily eat her food. Meanwhile, the Chronos who finished his food fast went to get more of the potatoes. The food was nearby Riel, and not knowing how much he would be eating, he went and took a sit near the girl for the convenience. "Thanks for the food!" He pronounced the magic words as he took a potato from the pot with his left hand. "Ohhoooohhh!!! This is the best potato I''ve ever tasted! Amen to the God of potatoes!" And just as he was praising the God of potatoes(non-existent), he heard a giggle. He figured it was Riel. After all, it would be weird if it wasn''t her, right? But when he looked at her, he saw something different. What he saw wasn''t the matured Riel, but a more child-like one. With her right hand on her mouth as if to hide her smiling face, eyes that are nearly shut, and shoulders rapidly moving up and down. "Ha ha. You finally showed something in line with your appearance. Feels so nostalgic." He whispered. For some reason it felt nostalgic for him, but why exactly? He wasn''t sure. Riel heard him though. "What do you mean ''in line with your appearance''?" "Ahh... That was nothing." But Riel was unsatisfied with this, "I won''t let you eat more of my delicious potatoes if you don''t tell." And those words struck Chronos hard. "Uhh... Well, you''ve been acting all adult-like and matured despite your young appearance. It¡¯s a breath of fresh air seeing you act according to how you look." Riel only went with an "I see." before going full silent mode working on her potions. Seeing her go back to her matured mode made Chronos feel confused and awkward. One moment she was acting all mature and composed and then she giggled like a child. This time she went back to being adult-like, but for some reason the "composed" part was missing. It was like there is an underlying sadness beneath her pure white appearance. Chronos kept his gaze on her while his left hand was ready to go get more potatoes on the pot. "I am allowed to eat more, right?" He thought. He didn''t bother actually asking for permission and proceeded to eat anyway. "This really is something." But while he was appreciating the beautiful taste of the potato, the girl beside him asked him to stand in a voice with a hint of authority. "W-wait... Did I do something wrong?" He asked, but he stood up anyway when Riel said "Just stand.". While he was standing blankly staring at the short miss in front of him, the miss went to grab one of his arms. "H-hey, wait. Are you finally abandoning me? I don''t mind, but at least tell me what angered you." Riel didn''t answer. Instead, she pressed forward to the house''s exit dragging Chronos with her. What awaited outside was, "W-whoa... Amazing! This is AWESOME!" All this time, Chronos was recuperating on an island. An island filled with greenery. The whole land that was filled with grass was divided into different parts.There was a part of the land to the west surrounded by fences where many different kinds of plants and vegetables grew. To the east was a forest where different kinds of animals dwelled. In the north was an unknown building and in front of that building was a sword stuck on the ground. It reminded Chronos of those stories where the protagonist would find a mysterious legendary sword stuck on the ground for who knows how many hundreds or even thousands of years, and yet for some reason the protagonist would just pull it out without much of a hitch. In the south was nothing much. An empty land filled only with grass. A perfect place to stargaze at night, and a perfect place to view the vast extending horizon at daytime. Where was Riel''s home located? She said the whole land was her home. How about the house where she lived? Well, it was in the middle of everything. The house basically could be made into a landmark considering it¡¯s core position on the island. Though the house is separated from the rest of the island by a river surrounding it. The river also extended far into different directions making it a good guide in case one were to get lost. "Wait... Isn''t this the same place where I was supposed to die?" Riel didn''t bother answering Chronos. Instead, she went and dragged him further to the south. They crossed a bridge connecting the house to the southern part of the island and there, a simplistic wooden bench that stood a few centimeters above the ground with just enough room to support four people could be seen. It had no back rest nor soft foam for a comfortable seating. Riel continued walking until they reached the said bench. "Take a seat." "What happened to not moving too much? Now you''re forcefully dragging me here." "That was then. Now you are allowed to move." Chronos didn''t bother going against Riel anymore and decided to just follow her, and so, he sat down. The cool air made him feel better while the quietness made him notice the fact that, "There is no one here..." "That''s because I am the only one living here." Chronos went with an "hmmm... I see." while Riel took a seat beside him. "So you are living here alone huh...." To be honest, Chronos didn''t understand it. It was impossible that Riel was the only one living here. Why? This was the first place he stumbled upon after escaping the black entity he encountered back then. He knew he was supposed to arrive at the nearest village so....This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Wait... That village..." Chronos finally realized that the place he found looked completely different from the village that he had in mind, but what could have happened? "Hey, how did I arrive here? And where is this place? What exactly is this place?" Chronos'' expression became different from his earlier carefree and happy-go-lucky attitude. His voice bore a deep, serious tone in it while his gaze was as sharp as a blade. The girl kept quiet for a few moments, but Chronos couldn¡¯t allow himself to go at her pace any longer. He didn¡¯t want to be rude to his savior as much as possible, but there were way too many things that he couldn¡¯t comprehend. "If you''re not going to speak then I will figure it out on my own." He stood up with the intention of leaving, but Riel held onto the hems of his clothes. "Don''t leave. I will explain." Chronos let out a sigh before sitting down once more. For some reason, Riel looked like she was actually begging him to stay. She wore her calm and composed expression but her eyes couldn''t hide it. Chronos saw through the loneliness that was hiding itself deep within those pure eyes. "I was actively monitoring the world below at that time when I saw you enter the crystal dungeon, and then moments later you were running away bearing a fatal wound. I could tell that your fountain of life was running dry fast, and that you couldn''t have survived no matter what you did. That''s why I summoned you here." That was how Riel explained it, but just as usual, Chronos¡¯ mind couldn¡¯t process any of it. "What do you mean: ¡®you summoned me¡¯? Where is this island?" He asked. This time with a more friendly, upbeat tone. "Up in the sky. This is a floating island. My home. My paradise. My sanctuary." The moment Chronos heard the word Sanctuary, it came to him. A sudden headache. Sweat began forming on his face. His eyebrows frowning, teeth gritting. The pain caused him to touch his head with his right hand. A flashback appeared. It was dark. He couldn''t see anything. Only a pair of crimson eyes could be seen. It was saying "This is my sanctuary.". And then he remembered. The black entity he encountered also said the same thing. That the dungeon was its "Sanctuary". "I see... Guardians...." Riel heard him, and so, she explained. "That was one of the two guardians of darkness. The guardian Diabolus. He is often referred to as ''The Devil'' in human books both historical and fiction." Chronos could only mutter "I see." as he looked down to view the grass. Riel on the other hand felt compelled to ask him something. "Say, Why did you become an adventurer? Did you want to save the world? Did you want to defeat the guardians of darkness?" Chronos being surprised by her question, blankly looked at her for a few seconds with his mouth agape before speaking. "I thought you can see things that we normal humans can¡¯t? What happened to that?" "I already told you I can''t see everything. I can only see the things that you are not trying to hide. Besides, directly hearing your answer would be nice." "Ha ha... It pains me to say, but aren''t you accurate? I do hate it when people ask me that. No reason, really. I just don''t like that question." Just after Chronos spoke his hate to that question, he stood up, moved a little forward, and laid himself on the sea of grass beneath. He then continued, "Let''s see... Why did I become an adventurer again? Right... It wasn''t because I wanted to save the world or anything grand like that. Why the heck would I sacrifice my life to keep everyone safe? Most protagonists in stories often die at the end. Only the people he saved could truly enjoy the ''Peace'' he worked hard to bring. And even then, who knows when another tragedy will fall. Even if I defeat the demon king or guardians of darkness or whatever, people will always find a reason to fight against one another. They will always find a way to destroy themselves." He stopped for a moment to catch his breath before continuing. Just then, he saw the girl he was speaking to. She had her eyes closed while happily swaying her legs back and forth. She also had a smile on her face as if she was having fun listening to a fictional story. "Having fun eh? I guess it isn''t a waste of time talking about myself." He thought as he shifted his gaze towards the sky. This time with his left arm stretched towards the sky as if he was trying to reach something. "Continue." Was what Riel said. "Fine. Fine. Where was I? Ahh. Right. To be honest, I believe it would be best if everyone is to be erased from this world. I mean, I''m not saying everyone is evil. I''m just saying that people, if without a common enemy, will always find a reason to trample the other." "Anyways, getting back to the main point. My reason for being an adventurer is quite selfish. It really is simple. Do you believe that the world is big?" He asked the girl who was eagerly listening to him. Riel didn''t waste a second to answer. She simply said "Yes" with a nod though she only said so because that was what Chronos wanted to hear. "That''s it. The world is vast and big, and yet, most of us live and die in that same corner where we were born. I couldn''t accept that fact. I couldn''t live with that fact. So I became an adventurer. All in order to travel the whole world and see all kinds of things that nature has to offer. Of course, whenever someone is in trouble, I make an effort to save them. That is if they are in front of me. Otherwise, I couldn''t care less." That marked the end of his story. After all the things he said, his main point ended up being so simple. "You wish to travel the world?" Was Riel asking Chronos. She listened closely to everything Chronos had said but she felt the need to confirm. "Yes. I wish to travel the whole world. So far I''ve traveled only a fourth of the world till now, but someday I''ll reach the end of the world. How about you? Do you have a wish?" He threw the same question to the person who threw that very question at him. Her eyes widened, and her lips tightened upon hearing that same question being asked of her. It was obvious. It was obvious that the girl proclaiming herself to be a guardian had deep rooted sadness affiliated to that question. The air caressing her hair just made her look more pitiful. She looked like a lost child. An abandoned child. A child who lost all meaning in life. Chronos didn''t want to believe it. He didn¡¯t want to believe that the lonely girl he was talking to was actually a guardian of light, but he wasn''t such an ordinary adventurer that he wouldn''t notice after speaking to the girl. She was telling the truth. She was indeed a guardian of light. Though her appearance looked younger than in the pictures and statues found throughout the world, but she did exude the energy of a guardian. "You don''t need to answer if you don''t want to. I''m grateful enough to have been saved by you." He said those words as if to comfort the girl, but the girl had resolved herself. "My wish.... was to be given the gift of death." She said in a soft voice as she looked at the sky. It was as if she was reminiscing something nostalgic. It was as if she was longing for a place far, far away. It was painful. She was really painful to look at, and yet, Chronos couldn''t help but gaze at her. "You see, we guardians don''t age. No matter how many hundreds or thousands of years may pass, we will forever stay the same. Our bodies are immune to illnesses, and knives and swords will wound us only temporarily. Not even our own magic can defeat one another. We are immortals in the truest sense of the word. Humans and even longevity-type demi-humans will never understand us. They will never understand the hardships that we guardians are experiencing. Humans has been searching for a way to become an immortal because they think it¡¯s nice, but in reality, being immortal is nothing more than a punishment. For us guardians, this world is nothing more than a giant cage, and we are the prisoners. People can argue that we are the wardens looking out for the cage, but that isn''t true. Say, can you tell how old I am?" A weird question was what Chronos thought. Nevertheless, he still gave an honest answer. "Appearance-wise, I think about 15? But if you''re going to ask me about your true age, then nah." "Right... You can''t possibly tell how old I am if even I have already lost count of it. I just know that I am past 4000 years old by now. How painful is it? How difficult is it? Seeing the world change, seeing its inhabitants get replaced by another, some place people are growing old while in another a child is being born. The seasons change, language is also slightly different from era to era. Even monsters change. Sometimes they get weaker, sometimes they get stronger. Everything changes. Everything moves forward. Except US. We, the guardians, will forever stay like this. We will forever be on a standstill. Our time will forever be frozen. We have no chance to enjoy the afterlife. We can¡¯t have the opportunity to follow our loved ones in death. All because we were forced to look over the world. All because we became the gods of this world. How many years do you think I stuck myself in my own little sanctuary? Doing nothing but ensure the balance of the world. I even gave up on making connections with others because it¡¯s painful to see them go. My co-guardians are either asleep or avoiding one another for their own reasons. What''s the point of being alive anyway? For me, there''s no difference between life and death. It''s basically the same thing. If ever, living is worse." It came to a point where she was looking down with her arms shaking. Even her voice was trembling. She must be trying hard not to shed a tear. Still, Chronos had to say something. "Wasn''t there a requirement if a guardian wants to die? I read in a very rare book. Was there only two copies of it? Anyways, There is usually one or two requirements if a guardian wants to pass on." The girl who was gritting her teeth about to lose her composure, replied. "Do you really think I didn''t know that? You really don''t know anything, do you? It isn''t that simple. Our requirements are very vague. They are so vague that it''s almost impossible to fulfill them. Save someone? Yes, THAT WAS ALL HE SAID!" Finally, she let out a loud voice. Tears poured down her cheeks as she talk about a certain someone who was already long gone. "How many times have I tried saving someone? Yes, you weren''t the first one, and I saved you only because I wanted to die! I had an ulterior motive for saving you! I didn''t save you because I wanted to. I SAVED YOU ONLY SO I COULD FULFILL MY WISH!" She continued crying as she spoke. Meanwhile, Chronos stood up and moved towards the girl''s direction. He faced her. In front of him was the Lamenting Guardian. In front of him was the girl abandoned by her Parents. A girl abandoned by the very God who appointed her a guardian. "It doesn''t matter whether you saved me for your own gain. If it wasn''t because of you, I would have long died. It was all thanks to you. I am happy to have met one of the guardians who''s also the topic of many books." He scratched his head before hesitantly continuing. "It also just so happens that you are my favorite among the six guardians." Whether Chronos told the truth or was he merely trying to comfort the girl is unknown, but the girl rejected him anyway. "Don''t (hic) think I will feel (hic) better." "I''m not trying to make you feel better." He then patted Riel''s head, but she quickly removed his hand saying, "Don''t pat me. (hic) I''m not a child. (hic)" "You''re still saying that after crying so loud? See, you still have snot." The girl then looked up to meet his eyes that somehow annoyed her. She had frowning brows as she looked at him. "I''ll throw you (hic) out of my sanctuary." "Please no. I''m still recovering." "Then you better be a good boy. (hic)" "I will." Chronos then sat beside her. Not too close though. He had to make some distance if he wanted to keep the girl from being too annoyed. This was when he thought of a great idea. At least that''s what he thought. "Say, wanna go on a journey with me?" He asked as he offered his hand to the guardian named Riel. Her mouth opened agape as she slowly turned to face Chronos. Her hands staggered as if jolted. "A... Journey?" "Yes. A journey. I mean, who knows? You might be able to find a clue about your Gift of Death. Surely, you aren''t forbidden to roam around, right?" It was the truth. Guardians are indeed allowed to roam. Although there is a certain requirement. "You knew about the Requirement?" "Well, yeah. I read in that same book that you can go out if you choose a mortal to be your Sacred Warrior. Come to think of it, my last name is ''Sagrad''. It was what they called the warriors picked by the guardians themselves back in the day. That was like a few tens of thousands of years ago though." "T-then... Do you know about the ritual?" "Hmm... was there something like that? I don''t really remember." "Close your eyes." Chronos let out an "huh?", but he quickly realized that Riel was serious and just did as he was instructed. Riel on the other hand, "Don''t open your eyes no matter what. This is important." "Fine, fine." That moment was like a once-in-a-lifetime thing for Riel. It was like the world and the flow of time slowed down. Everything was moving slow. She was only a few feet away from Chronos and yet it felt like an Eternity for her to get close to him. She touched his cheeks with her left hand while slowly moving her face closer to Chronos''. She closed her eyes as she whispers "You have been chosen. Rejoice, my Knight.", and her lips touched Chronos'' forehead. The sun shone ever so brightly as if the ball of light was celebrating the bonding of two special beings. Chronos opened his eyes looking dumbfounded right after being kissed on the forehead. He then made a question while wearing an annoying smile, "Did you do this to every stranger you saved before?" He said as he touch his own forehead while Riel quickly fought back using an slightly high and energetic voice, "Of course not. You are the first. I''m not such a cheap guardian, you know." "Are you sure about that? He he he..." Chronos continued teasing her, but his guardian wasn¡¯t in the mood to continue talking any more nonsense. "I''m going to go prepare myself. You go and jump ahead." She said. Though as usual, Chronos couldn''t you-know-what by now. "What do you mean ''Jump''?" "This is a floating island. Of course you have to jump if you want to get out of here." "Are you serious?" "I am serious." And that was the end of their conversation. Chronos couldn''t continue on bugging her as she seemed annoyed enough. Instead, he went to verify how up in the sky he really was by going to the edge of the island. "Gulp. Everything below me looks like a giant world map. Is she serious about having me jump?" Everything seemed so small. Even the biggest structures looked like a dot to him. He had his doubts, but he wanted to trust in his guardian and savior. And so, he took off with a smile. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! SO HIGH! I''M UP SO HIGH!! I''M FALLING. I''M DYING!! AAAHHHH!! I DON''T EVEN CARE ANYMO-Brrgg arrbbggg" He screamed at the top of his lungs. He continued screaming until the air impacting him prevented him from doing so. It wasn''t such a bad experience if only it didn¡¯t look like such a suicide. Meanwhile, Riel wore her white cloak and a small bag before setting out on a journey. Just like Chronos, she jumped off the floating island, but unlike Chronos who went facing the earth below, she faced the sky. She wanted to see her paradise, her sanctuary one last time. She wanted to say goodbye to the place she called home. It wasn''t an eternal parting, but no one knows when she would be able to see her home again. As if saying her farewell on a living being, she said "Until we meet again." Chapter 4 - The Journey Begins! ¡°AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!¡± Chronos screamed as the ground got bigger and closer. Bang! Was the sound of his collision with the ground. Luckily for him, there was no one around to witness his fall in the most literal sense of the word. ¡°Ughh¡­ It hurts!¡± He made a senseless complaint to nobody. It was more like a reflex than something he consciously said. Indeed, it was painful but ¡°I-its surprising how unscathed I am after that fall¡­.¡± He tried getting up right after he impacted to the ground when he noticed that he was unharmed. Not even a scratch. He even tried inspecting his forehead, but there was no blood or anything. He was completely fine. It was a miracle to fall from so high and be fine like nothing happened. Just then, a shadow appeared from beneath him. It began small but got bigger second by second and it was only when it was too late that he understood what the shadow truly was. Bang! Another loud noise could be heard, but just like when Chronos first fell to the ground, there still was no one to witness what happened. Chronos was once more lying face down on the ground. This time, with a girl in a white cloak sitting on his back. ¡°Hea...vy¡­. You¡¯re¡­. Hea.vy..¡± He told the girl who was sitting on his back with an almost inaudible and incomprehensible voice. The girl heard him just right though she acted like there was no problem, and stood up with Chronos still beneath her. ¡°Ughh¡­ Gwahh.. I¡¯m¡­ Dying¡­ DYING¡­.¡± The unfortunate adventurer tried to make use of whatever remaining air in his lungs in order to speak. His words were barely audible. Still, the girl could clearly hear him. Seeing the adventurer near his limits, she decided to finally show him mercy. ¡°Ahh. You were there?¡± Chronos¡¯ brows twitched as he heard the girl¡¯s words. As a meaning of getting revenge, he said ¡°This little girl¡­¡± It was the girl¡¯s ears that twitched next. ¡°Hmm? Did you say something?¡± ¡°N-no.. I didn¡¯t say anything. I certainly didn¡¯t say anything about you being a little girl.¡± Finally, their banter ended and inspection of their surroundings began. ¡°Seems like we landed in a forest.¡± Chronos stated the obvious. What could a land surrounded by a vast number of trees be if not a forest? Still, Chronos couldn¡¯t help but say something. Who knew? Maybe Riel still hadn¡¯t figured it out. ¡°(nod)(nod)... What do you usually do when you are lost in a forest?¡± Asked Riel. ¡°Didn¡¯t you have your own forest back in the floating island? What do you usually do when you are lost?¡± Chronos being rude, answered a question with a question. Riel sighed first before answering his question with yet another question. ¡°Do you get lost in your own home?¡± ¡°Errmm¡­ I guess not.¡± ¡°So, Why would I get lost in my own territory?¡± True enough. Chronos just scratched his head that seemed to have a non-existent brain before finally answering Riel¡¯s question properly. ¡°Hmm¡­ Usually, I will set up camp somewhere. I take into account how many days it would take to find the exit and secure resources that will last me long enough. Unlike the others though, I try to set up a permanent camp rather than move my camp as I progress. There are many reasons for which I do this, but if I have to give one I¡¯d say it is because I don¡¯t want to burden myself bringing all my things with me every time.¡± Riel understood everything Chronos had said so far, but she had to make something clear. ¡°But we are in an unfamiliar terrain. Won¡¯t we get lost on the way back to the camp?¡± Chronos went with a ¡°hmm¡­ good question¡± before answering. ¡°We can just leave our marks as we go. Those marks will serve not only as a guide back to the camp but also a sign that we already went a certain way.¡± Riel frowned her brows as she touch her chin ¡°Do you leave different kinds of marks?¡± Was her question. Chronos noticed Riel¡¯s concern about possibly making too much of the same mark thus, making their guides confusing once they progress far enough. Chronos smiled before speaking ¡°Ha ha. They say that the more you ask, the smarter you become.¡± Riel tilted her head unable to understand what Chronos was talking about. Seeing Riel in wait for an actual answer, he continued ¡°I leave different marks every day. Sometimes I try looking for an exit more than once a day. In that case, I leave different marks each time I set out to search. Heck, there are even times I mark the same tree with two different marks to indicate I went that way more than once.¡± Riel nodded in satisfaction. Not seeing her make another question, Chronos then went and informed his guardian ¡°This area is where we will set our camp up.¡± Riel didn¡¯t raise any questions and quickly agreed to his decisions. They were lucky to have landed in an area of the forest not too crowded with trees. It wasn¡¯t completely open as there was a tall tree at the center, but it is wide enough for them to set up camp and store their resources. Well, Riel could think of other problems they may face but she didn¡¯t want to ask too many questions at once. Based on Chronos¡¯ answers earlier, Riel could infer that he truly knew what he was doing and that it was safe to trust his decisions. Rather than to ask, Riel decided to help instead. ¡°Hey, where are you going?¡± Was Chronos calling out to Riel who decided to separate herself from him. He had no idea what she had in mind, but they couldn¡¯t afford to lose each other. Not until they at least had somewhat memorized the terrain. And even then, who knew when a beast or monster would attack. ¡°You said we have to set up camp, right?¡± Said Riel who kept walking here and there like she was searching for something. It seemed like she was planning where exactly to set up a tent. Then again, did they even have a tent? ¡°H-hey¡­ We do not have a tent, do we?¡± Chronos realized their current predicament. While there may be more than one alternative to tents, it doesn¡¯t change the fact that a tent is the most preferred. Tents aren¡¯t exactly easy to set up. Not only that, tents are also a pain in the neck to carry as one travels, but having a tent means Chronos wouldn¡¯t need to improvise much. Less thinking and moving equals less energy spent. Unless one is fully prepared, it isn¡¯t a good idea to waste energy when one is in an unfamiliar terrain. ¡°He he! You just wait and see, my Knight!¡± Chronos was confused as to why Riel appeared to be happy and proud. ¡°Why the heck are you puffing your small chest acting so proud? My knight? More like my ass!¡± Of course, that was just his internal monologue. He couldn¡¯t let his proud guardian hear him say that. Meanwhile, Riel closed her eyes, and what happened next gave a shock to Chronos¡¯ brain. Torrents of white-colored liquid-like mana oozed out of Riel and began gathering north of their camp area. It was only a matter of seconds when the energy coming from Riel built and transformed itself into a small but fine wooden house similar to what she had in the floating island. The house looked small. It was as basic as basic can get. In fact, it looked more like a single medium-sized room than a house but that must be because Riel knew they didn¡¯t have the space to make something better. Meanwhile, Chronos couldn¡¯t react. He continued staring at the wooden house astonished at the miracle that his guardian just performed. While he was blankly staring at the house, Riel decided to find a suitable place to create a much needed toilet. She wanted to evenly distribute the structures on the area, and so, she decided to create a toilet to the west.. One might think that no one would be able to create a sophisticated toilet so easily, but actually, Riel¡¯s toilet was pretty cleverly made. No one knew what she did, but the toilet she made had a sewer system, or at least something similar to that. It seemed to involve the use of magic, but whatever. Toilet problems solved. Chronos on the other hand was still unmoving when Riel finished setting up the toilet. What she did next was create a small storage room to the east. Even after all that, Chronos didn¡¯t budge. He was unmoving all that time. Having made all the necessary structures that they needed, Riel decided to poke Chronos. ¡°Guh!¡± Was the sound Chronos made when he was poked by Riel on the nose. Together with the sound was a jolt to his body signaling that his mind was forcibly returned to its rightful place. ¡°What happened? Did your brain die? Or maybe you have none from the start.¡± Riel waved her hands back and forth in front of Chronos¡¯ face as she teased him. Chronos on the other hand, ¡°YOU CAN MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING?!¡± Riel was just a little startled by Chronos¡¯ sudden shouting. Though she quickly regained her ground and started explaining ¡°To be precise, I can make things using my mana.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference?! That¡¯s basically the same thing! AMAZING!¡± He pressed his palms on Riel¡¯s shoulders as he said that. ¡°That sure is convenient.¡± ¡°Yup! It sure is. Like I said, You only need to watch. Ehehe!¡± She showed a proud expression as she told Chronos that. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Was Riel¡¯s question. ¡°Hmm¡­ I wonder if we should take this tree down¡­¡± Was Chronos thinking if they should get rid of the big tree at the center of their camp area. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s necessary though.¡± Riel disagreed. The extra space would be useful, but that isn¡¯t absolutely necessary. It would only be a waste of effort to cut the tree down. Also, Riel didn¡¯t want to hurt the forest too much. One could argue that one tree isn¡¯t worth much, but there wouldn¡¯t be a hundred trees if there wasn¡¯t a single tree. ¡°Right¡­ So, shall we proceed to stocking up on resources?¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Asked Chronos. Riel quickly agreed by raising her hand and letting out a ¡°Yup!¡±. It made Chronos think how strange Riel was. There were times when she said things that were rather annoying and there were times when she acted a bit high and mighty, but there were also times when she acted childish and innocent. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s her mood¡­¡± Chronos thought to himself. It might also depend on the situation and on the person she¡¯s talking to. Maybe her childish side was actually her ¡°true self¡± and it kind of slipped out whenever she was having fun. ¡°So? What am I supposed to get?¡± Riel asked which made Chronos look around their surroundings. ¡°Will you collect the twigs lying on the ground? And collect fallen leaves too.¡± Riel quickly took note of Chronos¡¯ instructions, but Chronos had to say something he forgot ¡°Ahh! Collect only dry leaves and twigs please. Otherwise they will be hard to burn due to their water content.¡± Riel actually knew that and gave just an ¡°Okay!¡± before going full focused on her job. Chronos on the other hand, ¡°Hmm¡­ where should I get fuel?¡± He asked himself. He wanted to go roam a bit in order to find a tree suitable for the job, but he couldn¡¯t just leave Riel behind. On the other hand, he could just ask Riel to create something out of her energy, but that would spoil the fun of being in a survival situation. Riel already made their situation a lot easier. Making it any easier than this will defeat the purpose of venturing. ¡°I guess any nearby tree will do. I¡¯ll probably just have her season the woods¡­. If she can.¡± ¡°...¡± Chronos stopped for a moment before thinking another time ¡°I wonder how much mana reserves she has?¡± Was what he thought. Maybe he was worried that Riel might be pushing herself too much, but she was a guardian. No way her body would give up that easily. Also, maybe it looked like Chronos knew a lot about Guardians, but his knowledge was still not quite that advanced. He wasn¡¯t even sure what the ¡°kiss¡± was for. It was supposed to be a ritual, but what did he gain? Sacred warriors were supposed to gain extraordinary powers upon being chosen by a guardian, but so far he felt nothing. Still, he assumed that he was given something, ¡°If I truly gained something, then she must have lost something too.¡± He whispered as he began moving to find a proper tree to cut. Indeed, the rule of balance suggested that if one side were to get something, the other side would lose something of equal value. If that were the case, then maybe Riel wasn¡¯t so invulnerable anymore. Still, he didn¡¯t want to think too much about it. He was capable of protecting her. At least if he wasn¡¯t going to fight another guardian. A moment later, he arrived at a tree just a little outside of their camp area. He could still see Riel, so there wasn¡¯t a need to worry. Why was he worrying anyway if Riel could even create things out of her own energy? Surely she had more cards up her sleeves. ¡°Here we go.¡± He murmured as he reach out for his sheathed sword on his waist, but ¡°W-wait¡­. It¡¯s gone?!¡± He didn¡¯t realize the fact that his sword was long gone by his side when Riel began treating his wounds back in the floating island. He forgot it because he was still wearing his leather armor which looked more like a leather jacket than armor when he woke up. ¡°R-Riel? Do you know where my sword went?¡± The short guardian who was busy picking twigs and dead leaves to be used as tinder moved her gaze towards her panicky knight. She then opened her small bag and inserted her left hand on it in search of something. It took only a few seconds when she took her hands out. This time, with a sword on her hand. ¡°Ohh!! That¡¯s it, that¡¯s it!¡± Said Chronos as he walked closer to Riel when Riel threw the still sheathed sword at him. The way she threw the sword at Chronos made it spin which had Chronos panicking than he was when the sword was missing. ¡°H-hey! That was dangerous!¡± He shouted at the little girl who was giggling so much that it turned into full-blown laughing in just a few moments. ¡°Pfft¡­ That was.. Pff.. Hilarious¡­ He was so scared¡­ pfft. Fufuf¡­ heh¡­ a ha ha ha ha!¡± ¡°Stop laughing! Tch.¡± He told Riel off, but she didn¡¯t listen and kept on laughing. Still, it wasn¡¯t a completely bad experience. He saw Riel laughing like there was no tomorrow. It was also entertaining on his perspective to see and hear Riel¡¯s childish laugh. Like seriously, was she really 4000 years old? At that age one shouldn¡¯t be rolling on the ground laughing. Well, Riel didn¡¯t exactly roll. But almost. ALMOST. She was just stomping and slapping the ground as she laughed. No rolling, definitely no rolling. Or maybe she rolled without Chronos knowing. After all, she was still laughing when Chronos decided to turn his back against her in order to face his current opponent. The tree. It was not a big tree. The tree was only about 45-50 feet tall with a trunk diameter of a little less than 2 feet. Chronos wasn¡¯t really all that interested in trees and plants, so he didn¡¯t know much about them. All he knew was that they looked very similar to one another and that the only way to notice the difference was if they were bearing some kind of fruit or very obvious features which would separate them from the rest. Chronos chose the tree mainly because it was small, therefore processing would be easy. Still, he knew he would need to dry the wood one way or another. ¡°Heh¡­ Sorry to say, but I¡¯ll make you the outlet of my frustrations.¡± He spoke to the tree while wearing a smirk. He then proceeded to unsheathe his sword. The type of sword that Chronos used wasn¡¯t supposed to be wielded with both hands. It was a sword with thin and average-length blade. It was also single edged and just slightly curved. It looked ordinary except that the sword he was wielding is called a Rune Blade. It is the kind of sword with unreadable runes embedded and etched on the surface of the blade. Yes, the sword looked ordinary, but the runes glowed a bluish light. A faint bluish light that seemed to go on and off every few seconds. ¡°Regal Blade¡± After reciting the name of the technique, the edge of the sword, just like the runes etched on the surface of the blade, showed a glint of sharp, bluish light. The bluish light was almost unnoticeable as it looked very thin and sharp. It almost seemed like the edge of the blade itself was naturally emitting the light. ¡°Here we go¡­¡± He said as he positioned his right foot behind while both of his hands gripped the sword with the point of the blade towards the east. Yes, the sword was in a horizontal position. ¡°One¡­. Two¡­ Three!¡± He jumped forward as he swung his sword horizontally towards the direction of the tree and it was cut down just like that. After cutting down the tree, he made sure to divide the tree into smaller chunks so he could split it later. He then brought those parts back to the camp and placed it near the big tree. Meanwhile, Riel finished collecting enough twigs and leaves. ¡°Ohooh.. That¡¯s a lot of tinder and kindling.¡± He said. Riel silently nodded proud of her job. Chronos on the other hand scratched his head and his guardian noticed this. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ These woods are still unseasoned.¡± Was what he said. It was apparent that Riel wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with what Chronos was dealing with. Unseasoned woods meant that the woods still has too much water content to be used as fuel. Therefore, the woods needed to be seasoned first otherwise it would be very time and effort consuming. ¡°Might take us 3 to 6 months to season this.¡± Chronos added. Meanwhile, Riel strolled towards the wood¡¯s direction and picked up a chunk. She then laid it down on the ground for inspection. ¡°I think we¡¯re going to be okay.¡± She said. ¡°You mean you can somehow dry the woods?¡± Chronos asked in order to verify what the girl meant by her words. Riel nodded silently as she tried getting a feel of the wood¡¯s texture with her palm. ¡°I need to bring the water content down to 15%¡± She said as she prepared herself. Chronos thought to himself ¡°Ohh, she knows her stuff huh?¡± as he watch the girl prepare to season the woods. Moments later¡­ Riel separated her palms from the wood that she was inspecting not long ago. Instead of directly pressing her palms on the woods, she laid her palms a few inches mid-air above the wood to make space for what she was planning. The whole camp area was silent. Not even the wind blew. There was only Chronos who was silently watching and the girl that was quietly doing her job. At first, it looked like nothing was happening. Chronos had begun to doubt whether Riel really knew what she was doing, but moments later, he saw it. He saw the liquid that was coming out of the wood. The liquid that was supposed to be inside the wood was floating in the space between the wood itself and Riel¡¯s palm. It started really small, but not long after, the water in the shape of a ball became noticeable. It wasn¡¯t big. But it was noticeable enough unlike when Riel first began drying the wood. Still, who would have thought that it was actually possible to forcefully season woods that way. Riel continued working on the woods while Chronos watched in silence, gaping at the sight of his awesomely convenient tool. No, wait. Something isn¡¯t right. It was supposed to be ¡°awesomely convenient guardian¡±. Apologies. Time passed and Riel finished her work. It was Chronos¡¯ turn to do his job, but just like earlier, he scratched his head thinking hard about something. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Riel asked Chronos. Maybe he wasn¡¯t satisfied with Riel¡¯s work. But no. That wasn¡¯t it. ¡°I don¡¯t have a maul...¡± Was Chronos¡¯ problem. Being familiar with a maul used for log splitting, the girl called Riel decided to offer her services once more. ¡°Do you want me to make one?¡± But Chronos decided to spend a few moments in order to think. Only about half a minute later, he seemed to have stumbled on an idea. ¡°Hm.. Heh heh.. No worries. I got this!¡± Was what he said. He wore a proud smile as he unsheathed his sword. No, he wasn¡¯t going to use his sword to split the woods. If he were to use his sword, then it was going to be ¡°log slicing¡± instead of ¡°log splitting¡± and those are two different things. So, instead of the sword, he wielded his trusty scabbard instead. Riel didn¡¯t react. Maybe she knew what Chronos was planning. Maybe not. She simply watched as Chronos used the same ¡°Regal Blade¡± technique on the scabbard. Though the technique he used for the scabbard was a little half-assed because he didn¡¯t want to sharpen the scabbard too much otherwise it wouldn¡¯t be any different than when he was using his sword. After applying Regal Blade on his scabbard, he proceeded to split his first wood. At first, both guardian and knight was uncertain of what will happen. Riel stared intensely while Chronos kept his eyes wide opened as he hammer the scabbard down to the standing wood. ¡°This might be dangerous¡­¡± Was what he was thinking. Of course that would be dangerous. It was dangerous enough that their world seemed to have stopped moving when the scabbard contacted the wood. ¡°Krrikk¡± Was the sound of the wood being successfully split. ¡°Ohh¡­ OooOOOoohhh!!. A SUCCESS!!¡± As Chronos said, it was a success. Riel¡¯s eyes glowed at the sight of the wood-splitting scabbard. She was fascinated by that idea. She was fascinated by the person standing in front of her. Even though he can be idiotic, nothing hides the fact that Chronos was a fine adventurer. Riel nodded twice expressing her pride in her Knight. It was as if she was saying ¡°That¡¯s my Knight for ya.¡± Chronos continued chopping woods for an hour while Riel didn¡¯t have anything to do, so she just sat down watching her knight do his job. After splitting the woods, Chronos went straight to determining what time it was. Depending on the answer, they may have to rush. Fortunately, time appeared to be still three hours away from darkness and so, Chronos decided to slow down a bit. No, he wasn¡¯t trying to be lazy. He was simply slowing down or else he would run out of things to do. But, but¡­ What if he was forgetting something? Oh well. Chronos decided that it was time he clear an area for their campfire. Riel on the other hand, just like when her knight was chopping woods, simply watched as Chronos silently cleared the area which would be used as ground for the fire that they will build. Time went by and he finished clearing the ground. This time he went to search for rocks to be used to restrain the fire from traveling where they don¡¯t want it. Who wants the whole forest to be burned? Well, maybe there are some people with a few screws missing on their heads, but any normal person wouldn¡¯t want to cause a forest fire. Riel being bored, decided to help Chronos get some rocks. ¡°Strong¡­ Definitely strong. Scary strong.¡± Was him murmuring to himself. He saw just how easy it was for Riel to lift rocks that were supposed to be heavy. Riel made it look like she was carrying some pea-sized rock from Chronos¡¯ perspective. Well, to be fair, the duo was never in need of super big rocks. Still, considering the delicate appearance of the girl, one would think that she will have at least a bit of a hard time carrying medium-sized rocks. It took only a bit of time for them to collect enough rocks. Now they just need to set things up. First, the rocks and next, the fire itself. Chronos and Riel decided to go with a teepee fire because it was the simplest fire to make. It was about an hour and a half before the moon¡¯s visit when they decided to set the fire up. First, lay the tinder at the center of the fire site. The tinder was composed mostly of dead leaves and grass. Next, place kindling above the tinder. They should be standing leaning forwards. The duo decided to place twenty twigs surrounding the tinder while leaving an open space where air could get in so that the fire could get the air it needs. Finally, a few of the bigger logs and the fire was finally finished! All that remained to be done was to light it. Of course, the duo couldn¡¯t afford to light the fire too early or else, they will go through their resources quickly and meaninglessly. So, they waited until the sun was setting before igniting the fire. It was time. Yes, the time to light the fire has come. Chronos was preparing himself for the hard work in front of him when Riel volunteered. ¡°I¡¯ll light it.¡± She said as she fixed her vision on the teepee fire in front while she was sitting on her feet with her hands on her knees. Chronos was like ¡°huh?¡± but Riel simply repeated her ¡°I¡¯ll light it.¡± Chronos couldn¡¯t do anything but surrender to the fighting spirit that his Guardian showed. As if the show of surprises still hadn¡¯t ended, Chronos was behind Riel closely watching his Guardian while constantly having the thought ¡°what is she going to do?¡±. Once again, it was silent. How many times did this already happen? So many surprises in just a single day. Anyways, it began. The final show of surprise had finally began. Riel inhaled. No, not just any ordinary inhale. She inhaled till her lungs were full of air. And then she held her diaphragm. Finally, she exhaled through her mouth and guess what? ¡°What are you? A dragon?!¡± Was Chronos¡¯ inner monologue the moment he saw Riel breathing fire. She probably would be the cutest dragon ever. Going back on topic, Riel managed to easily light the campfire. The tinder composed of leaves and grass was set on fire very easily. The fire then traveled to the kindling and the twigs started burning. As the fire went its way to the top of the kindling, it traveled to the bigger logs next. Finally, their campfire became complete. It was a success. Because of how Riel demonstrated her super convenient abilities, it Reminded Chronos of something. He was fond of reading books. He still is. He would read all kinds of books during his free time. It didn¡¯t even matter whether he was reading a book talking about a topic he was interested in or not. He would read absolutely anything. Of course, all those times he tried reading something he wasn¡¯t interested at, he would always end up forgetting the contents of the book. So, what did he remember? Just as mentioned, Chronos is fond of reading books and that includes fictional stories. There was a time when overpowered, convenient protagonists became popular in fictional stories. Many authors would write countless stories featuring very, very convenient protagonists that seemed capable of doing absolutely everything as if they were God. To Chronos, Riel was like those protagonists. ¡°Are you some kind of a wish fulfillment, self-insert MC?¡± Was what he thought. No, he planned not to blurt that one out. Still, Riel managed to momentarily tap on Chronos¡¯ mind therefore figuring out what he was thinking at that exact moment. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°Guh! Stop reading people¡¯s thoughts! Thoughts are supposed to be private, you know.¡± He responded in a shock. Still, Riel couldn¡¯t help but feel curious. She went close to him. Too close in fact. Chronos could feel her breath as she tried talking him into speaking. ¡°Say it! Say it! What do you mean by ¡®wish fulfillment, self-insert MC¡¯?¡± She forcefully asked like a child. Chronos could only give up and speak ¡°AAhh! Fine! It means you are too convenient. I bet people are all dreaming of becoming like you.¡± Indeed. If Chronos were to write a book, he¡¯d most definitely imagine himself being that oh-so-powerful and convenient main character whose sole purpose is to show the world just how great he was. How nice it would be if it was reality. ¡°Fufufu¡­ Aren¡¯t I impressive? Say it. I¡¯m amazing. Right, right?!¡± She smiled a really, really big smile showing her teeth to the point that her eyes weren¡¯t visible any longer. She was cute. Cute enough to tempt Chronos into patting her. And that¡¯s exactly what he did. (pat)(pat) His palm was caressing her head. Fortunately for him, Riel wasn¡¯t as annoyed compared to when they were still on the floating island. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Patting you of course.¡± ¡°Why are you patting me?¡± ¡°Just because!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t treat me like a child!¡± And there we go. She finally decided it was time for Chronos to stop patting her. (Grrooowwwwlll) Wait, what was that sound? It appears Chronos was finally running out of nutrients and his body was explicitly asking for it. That was when he realized the fatal mistake that he made. Yes, he forgot to hunt food. No meat or anything. Not even fruits. At this rate, the two of them would have to pass the night with their protesting stomachs. Just then, he heard someone giggle. ¡°Fufufu¡­ Want some food?¡± ¡°Huh? We don¡¯t have food.¡± ¡°Whose fault is that?¡± ¡°Errmm..¡± Riel mentally cornered Chronos, but Chronos didn¡¯t want to admit the fact that he was the one responsible for their lack of food. Just then, Riel took out a large potato out of her Magic Bag. ¡°I might give this to you if you are honest.. He he¡­¡± Chronos remembered just how heavenly and celestial the taste of Riel¡¯s potato was. He managed to control his urge. Or not. ¡°I-its my fault¡­ Hand over the potato, please?¡± ¡°Okay! Say aaahhh!!¡± He agreed to the deal and Riel handed him the potato. Except that she did it in a different way. She was trying to feed Chronos the potato instead of give it. Chronos closed his eyes and went ¡°aaahhh..¡± when he realized, ¡°Wait, no! That¡¯s not right. Give it to me! You traitor!¡± ¡°A ha ha ha ha! He almost fell for it!¡± Riel laughed it out first before finally giving the potato to Chronos for real. The duo sat behind the big tree as they eat their fill. The sounds of nature including those belonging to nightly animals echoed along with the sound of the campfire. The orange light the fire was producing together with nature¡¯s background noise had a relaxing effect on Chronos. That was one of the reasons he decided to travel. Because of that feeling. The kind of feeling one would never feel if they were to stuck themselves in their own little world. Moments later, just right after eating, Chronos was blankly staring into the night sky when he heard something. Yes, Riel was humming a song. It was a song that sounded nostalgic and sad. It felt like there was a really tragic story behind the melody. It was as if there was a certain Ancient Wish that went unfulfilled and yet, at the end of it, one would see a faint light of hope. It was as if the ending of the song was like A New Beginning. Like the start of an adventure; Of a journey that will light the path forward. If one is experienced enough, they would be able to infer that the song is in Key of G Major. The musical style used is similar to eastern music. It just so happened that Chronos also liked eastern music. He was interested not to mention Riel seemed to be good at singing. ¡°What song is that?¡± Riel momentarily stopped upon being asked. She wore a smile. It wasn¡¯t a happy smile. It was the smile of someone who was recalling a distant memory. Memory that will never be brought back again. It was the smile of someone basking in the feeling of nostalgia and longing. ¡°He called it ¡®Moonlight Gaze¡¯.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°...¡± There was a short silence before Riel continued ¡°He made the song just before he died. He told me to sing it whenever I miss him. He also told me I could sing it whenever there is a full moon. ¡®Look up into the night sky and sing¡¯ was what he said.¡± Chronos didn¡¯t know what to say. The mood was quite different. He also felt the sadness within Riel and it reminded him of something. He wasn¡¯t sure what, but he felt like there was something important that he was supposed to do but he couldn¡¯t really remember. Still, he took the trouble to say something. ¡°It¡¯s a beautiful song.¡± Chronos praised the song. He also secretly praised Riel¡¯s singing skills. Riel was like a mother humming a beautiful lullaby to her child and the child would fall asleep listening to the mother¡¯s gentle voice. After that was basically them quietly passing the time. The fire would lose fuel every now and then and so, the duo decided to add logs alternately. After Chronos, Riel would add fuel next then back to Chronos. That cycle repeated until sleepiness finally arrived. The door to the world of dreams welcomed them and so, they decided to give in and slept inside the house that Riel made for the two of them. And thus, one beautiful day accompanied by peace and surprises ended.