Thunder rumbled as rain poured down from the height of the ever-expanding white sheet of space, stretching both horizontally and vertically towards the lofty summit of infinity. The pale drops of rain froze in their shape as they descended from the ghastly void, joining with the death-still soil which reflected the recurring shades of grey and brown.
Amidst the monotonous sequence of neverending reproduction of liquid downpours, a minute speck of light reintegrated itself from the deep cold nothingness into the corporeal reality which eagerly accepted its presence, not bothering with the consequences of before-mentioned behaviours.
The newly-formed ray of light shone with its colourful light, resisting the aseptic atmosphere of the timeless domain and its unearthly-still elemental scraps. However, the phlegmatic quantity of worldly pressure nevertheless insensately pulverised the insufficient brightness into its former infinitesimal state.
The struggling flare could prognosticate its ineluctable dissolution. The blazing point of flame decisively debilitated itself, using its final fruitless endeavour to grow into the astonishingly small size of a gateway which conjugated the eternal nothingness and the sorrowful plane together.
From such miniature vacuum devoid of dismal might of the callous realm, two unique humanoid contours advanced forwards, grounding onto the unexplained cosmos. Their eccentric disposition emanated out the pinkish amorphous quality, permeating the depressing surrounding with slow-witted sentiments.
...
Unable to penetrate her vision into the colourless mist, Forus decided to turn her attention towards both her conditions and Ocelia's. The act of travelling between realm was only possible with the help of the Fleeting Emotions Ruin, and it was remarkably dangerous.
Strangely, the robe that both of them wore had changed their colours by themselves, turning somewhat pink and lovely. Numerous runes resembled the shapes of hearts and roses appeared on the clothes of the couple. Their clothing style had almost become that of a bride and a groom.
Feeling the heart-warming heat, Forus Ander and Ocelia Coruscare set their sight at their entangled and inseparable hands, keeping their partner close without any intention to part way. Without their knowledge, some unknown force had embedded a symbol of love and affection onto their hands, taking the shape of the two deliberately twisted structures.
The first structure assumed the shape of a blooming rose, expanding its petals outwards, covering the sky with its beauty, shielding the world from calamity and negativity. The other structure had the appearance of the wilting lily, using its roots to keep the blooming rose in place, supporting it from collapsing due to its limitless petals.
With their roots entangled with each other, the flower represented the two opposing concepts, fighting yet complementing each other.
The source of the heat was naturally these imprints, emitting the vapour that had the faintest shade of pink, fighting against the invading dullness of the pale world. The fog of love also created the thin layer of membrane, shielding the sweet pair from the destructive raindrops sent down from the infinite height of the firmament.
After finished checking for any abnormality that might occur after the void-travelling experience, Forus fell into contemplation state, trying to make sense of the world around her. Seeing Forus' relaxed state, Ocelia curled his mouth upwards before starting to put out some formation arrays.
However, after powering just a few of them, Ocelia stopped his actions before she closed her eyes, trying to detect the presence of the sorcery energy in the atmosphere. To his expectation, the world around him was like an empty vacuum, devoid of sorcery energy and any usable elemental particles.
Looking at Forus, Ocelia sighed before letting go of their entangled hand, causing the imprint to dim down, slowing its process of releasing the hazy pink mist.
Ocelia decided to walk around, surveying the surrounding, hoping to find some noticeable landscapes to later mark as the reference before they could obtain the outline of the region. After walking away from Forus, Ocelia noticed that the mist started to dissipate, causing the invading soulless vapour to come into contact with his skin.
He swiftly retreated towards where Forus was sitting, escaping the invading gas. After getting closer to Forus, the imprint started to emit the life-saving fog again, fending off the callous gas. Sensing that the pressure had lessened, Ocelia was surprised that the tiny amount of mysterious gas had made his flesh rot and disintegrate, revealing the bloody wound that exposed a part of his bone.
The body that Ocelia was currently occupying was very extraordinary. It got created uniquely by the enigmatic grey soul that fused with Forus after her first death as a gift from the formidable devil in their exchange. The body could withstand the invasion of the Death Aura, which could completely obliterate any ordinary first-ranked sorcerer, while it was still at the stage of the sorcerer apprentice.
Thinking about the consequence of his action, Ocelia started to feel uncomfortable and could only resign in his fate, going back to guard Forus, patiently waiting for her to open her eyes. Although Ocelia would be bored after a while, he could still have a chance to immerse himself to the breath-taking features of the matured maiden.
After a moment of peace, Forus silently opened her eyes, revealing the glowing light of understanding as she did. She abruptly stood up, settling Ocelia who was staring at her face. Seeing the tender eyes glared back at him, Ocelia could feel his rampaging blood that turned his face red from embarrassment.
"Taking advantage of a helpless maiden, don't you feel any shame at all?" Forus forcefully held back her giggle as she teased her lover, feeling pleased after seeing his panicked face.
After a moment of playfulness and giggling, Forus and Ocelia had finally relieved themselves of their stress and returned to their formerly calm and collected mindset. This state of mind would help them in their upcoming crisis where their critical thinkings needed to be precise and swift.
From both of their observation, the records of the realms in the Fleeting Emotions Ruin that the sorcerers had created had no mention of this strange realm. So, either this realm was extraordinary enough for the higher-ups of the sorcerers to hide it from the mass, or that they were the first pair of sorcerers to come to it.
No matter which scenarios were the real one, the couple would have encountered the enormous treasures trove, waiting for them to pick. If they weren't the first to come in, then the realm would be extraordinarily valuable, having more treasures then other ordinary regions. If they were the first, then they would have to be careful about its mysteriousness, but in turn, all of the treasures were intact and waiting for them.
Then, there was the last possibility of why there was no record of this realm. It meant that there was never once a single sorcerer who could escape this realm alive to share their story. All of them died despite the countless sorcerers that had ventured into this land. Its impossibly hellish challenges caused the downfall of all the sorcerers, not even one could survive until the gate appeared.
The two also found that the space around them had no sight of elemental particles at all. They could only detect the trace of the degraded elemental particles that couldn't do anything meaningful for them. With this discovery in mind, they would need to use their sorcery sparingly, not wasting any precious resource.
Although they had prepared immense amounts of restoration potions, they didn't accord for this type of isolation scenario. After all, no records had stated that some challenges would isolate the sorcerers from the elemental particles.
Ocelia also told Forus about his experience, telling him how the imprint dimmed down and stopped emitting the pink gas after walking away from Forus. It would mean that they had to cooperate if they wanted to survive. If any of them died, the other would soon follow after the lack of pink mist to protect oneself from the invasive force of the mysterious realm.
After a moment of silence, the two gazed into the windows of the souls of each other, seeing the faint glittery light, they nodded at each other and immediately did their part. Ocelia slowly used his sorcery to write runes in the air, before using his hand to grab them and crushed them into powder.
Silently, the shadowy sphere actualised itself in front of Ocelia, gaining its former shape over time. The orb began to emit the red and orange light, gushing out flaming particles, flowing violently towards Forus.
Because of their deal, Forus would receive potions and Ocelia would get the refined flaming-particles from her. Using them, Ocelia managed to consolidate one of his Orbs of Element, the Flaming Orb. With time, Ocelia also condensed the Freezing Orb and Light Orb because of his talents in these elements. Also, with the help of the Steel Cauldron and Forus Ander, Ocelia used his wit to employ the elemental waste that the spiritual seed created to form the Plant Orb.
These Orbs of Element would increase his affection with the said element and empowered the elemental spells. It would also faintly generate the same type of elemental particles as theirs. Although it would unmistakably help the couple in the situation, the rate of generation would be too slow for the continuous usage of sorcery.
Using the help provided by Ocelia, Forus attentively channelled her sorcery, applying them to create a symbol on the greyish ground. According to her mind, the flaming particles dissolved themselves and became the fuel of the ritual, powering the frame. Bit by bit, untold amounts of elements started to stack on each other, forming the visible shape of the tower.
The tower of flame assembled itself as the flaming particles powered the ritual, raising from the ashes of history and stood tall and high. Once the leaning tower finished itself, numerous blazing shapes rooted in their places, showing their devotion as they exerted their scorching heat, trying to gain the favour of their master.
After advancing to the first-ranked sorcerer, the leaning tower had gone through another phase of enhancement, improving the overall power of the fire spirits and constructing the last top floor of the tower, which contained the entity that could battle the first-ranked sorcerer, the Flaming Guardian.
However, because of its costly consumption, Forus decided to send only the lower fire spirits that resided on the first floor to investigate the world for them. While the couple waited for the report of the servants, they would find a secure place to stay for the night, which was fast approaching.
The night of the still realm was not because of the sun and the moon swapping place like any ordinary worlds. Forus and Ocelia gazed at the infinite whiteness as they gradually turned from pale-white to depressing-grey before becoming pitch-black. The mist was intensifying, and the destructive rain never seemed to stop.
Before long, the couple was able to find a large tree that stood as tall as the hill and as wide as the sea, its branches broke off into various shapes, creating many natural shelters for them to choose. The strange tree that successfully grew to the size of a hill was ghastly-white, mirroring the texture of the bones, as well as its durability.
Venturing through regions of emptiness and whiteness, the two hadn't seen any living creatures, other than the hill-size tree. Every tree and plant they encountered had died long before their arrival, and it seemed to be the same case with this shrivelled tree.
After finished preparing hand-made traps and sorcery-less arrays, Forus and Ocelia sat before the campfire that they casually created. Because of the constant downpour, the temperature of the realm had reached the freezing-cold point, making the normal flame an impossible dream. The couple instead used the cold-flame that released the cold wind, providing light like the natural fire but could sustain itself in the cold environment.
Feeling the tickling sensation, Ocelia glared at his shoulder, only to see the soft face of Forus, leaning onto his body, sharing the warmth and happiness mutually. Her pink cheeks invited his hands to caress them, so he did as they hinted. After touching her face, Ocelia could see Forus smiled faintly, before turning her face towards his, tapping her hands at his lap.
The pinkish mist suddenly increased its concentration, showing only the silhouette of the pair of lovers, releasing their playful-self and engaging in their teases.
