“E-Elena do you feel it too?” Viran tried to soften his voice when speaking, but what left was instead a harsh tone.

 

“Ehh? Feel what?” Elena asked with uncertainty without looking back at Viran. Somehow Viran didn’t feel Elena to be as trustworthy anymore, though that may just be his anger speaking for him.

 

Viran’s premonition seemed to be corrected as he walked towards the waterfall. Just as the mist collapsed around his body everything seemed to be elevated intensely. Whether it be his muscles randomly spasming, his emotions flaring, or the uncertainty that ran through his mind; something was wrong here. Furthermore the familiar aura of Ry appeared, but Viran knew the differences between the two. While Ry possessed a calm yet domineering aura this aura was much different. The feeling was unstable yet seemed immovable, a crushing weight upon Viran.

 

Just being near the mist made Viran suffocate, being submerged within the mist made the feeling all that much worse. Viran began grasping for breath as they walked farther into the mist, he tried to speak to Elena but the most simplest of words wouldn’t register.

 

“Hahh, it’s so warm in here!” Elena called out joyfully as she hummed a tune despite Viran dying just behind her.

 

Viran’s eyes winced, it was inexplicable as to how Elena was able to walk through the mist that easily. His head bobbled repeatedly around as he tried to keep his consciousness, the light-headed feeling was almost too much for the young boy to bear.

 

As Elena gleefully walked ahead with a pip in her step, Viran walked behind in a weary and shaky manner. In her eyes the mist was a warm blanket as she ran along, yet to Viran the mist could only be seen as a deadly and deceitful miasma that threatened to take his life at any given moment.

 

 

The boy could fill the dread within grow as every second passed. Viran could feel himself dying, yet what he was expecting would not come to pass. Seconds before Viran would finally suffocate the mist surrounding the two disappeared in a flash. As the mist disappeared so did the pain Viran experienced, but the familiar aura only increased in strength.

 

The ground trembled as Elena stared in awe, and Viran in terror.

 

Sitting upon its four legs was a creature with scales extruding from every part of its body. With a short tail that laid sheepishly on the ground and a large turtle-like shell sitting upon its back the confident creature stared at the two children, seemingly displeased.

 

“This isn’t what we both agreed to, child.” The ethereal voice of the creature struck Viran like a punch while Elena only smiled in response.

 

“I know. But I don’t think you’re mean enough to turn down another kid like me in trouble.” Elena said sweetly as her cheeks turned into a faint strawberry red, completely oblivious to the aghast boy just a step behind her.

 

“Hrm.” The creature breathed out softly, its white gullet danced in rhythm. “Perhaps if it were another child, but not this one. His heart is tainted, and he is already in debt.”

 

“Ceru please!” Elena pleaded. “He’s a kind person. He… He encouraged me despite his own injuries! I only wish for a small blessing.”

 

By this time Elena already began walking towards the blue scaled creature until Viran hurriedly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

 

“Elena what- who is that?” Viran spoke softly as he glared suspiciously at the creature.

 

The boy was right to be suspicious of the creature in front of him. Scales covered the creature all over its body with ivory and azure colors, but that wasn’t the problem. What was the bigger problem was due to the fact that the beast in front of them was able to speak fluently in their language, and the giant turtle shell that protruded from its back was something Viran never saw before. It was a mysterious being, and Viran could already feel the hostility it had for him. It was one thing for him to die, but to drag Elena alongside him was too bad.

 

“Wait! His name is Ceru. He's helped me before too!” Elena quickly said to Viran.

 

“Ceru Venetus is my name. Who are you boy?”

 

The creature glared at Viran and Viran uncomfortably shifted his vision to the beasts feet.

 

“...Viran Idicium. What did you mean when you said I still had a debt?”

 

“Hmph. You’re within the sights of a Primordial Spirit that won’t let you go no matter how hard you tried, not to mention that the spirit is a blind idiot.” The creature had a ‘grin’ on its face as it sputtered everything out. It’s forked tongue danced in the air causing Elena to giggle a bit.

 

But being laughed at by the creature was the least of Viran’s worries.

 

“Wait! Do you mean Ry? What’s a Primordial Spirit? What do you mean?” Viran staggered forward in worry. The matter of Ry had escaped his mind for much time, but one of his main worries was the identity of Ry. After all folktales detailing how demons took the souls of children were quite prevalent in the Empire and Viran could not help but wonder if Ry was a manifestation of something he thought to be legend.

 

“Well Viran do I really need to tell you? You really got yourself unlucky this time! He’s gonna make you sign a contract, ain’t he?”

 

Back before Ry had disappeared from the mind of Viran the spirit had detailed that he wanted something from Viran, was this what it was? A contract of sorts?

 

“Ry… He saved my life. He said we’ll come to an agreement once the two months are over…” 

 

While Viran slowly muttered to himself in the near silence, the creature sighed loudly as he looked at the child. The tail on the floor began to shake in small movements, a scene similar to the wagging tail of a dog.

 

“Shut up.” The creature said simply to the boy. “I will do as the girl says and give you a blessing, but I need something in return.”

 

“Blessing?” Viran asked.

 

Elena seeing her time to put herself in the confusing conversation jumped up.

 

“The blessing is great! It helps clear your mind.” Elena said in an excited manner. “Before I was sad and I couldn’t even remember why! So whenever I felt down I would use the blessing and suddenly I'd feel refreshed!

 

Viran looked incredulously at the girl and then to the creature.

 

“What do you need for me to receive your blessing?”

 

The creature snarled as its forked tongue flickered in and out of its mouth.

 

“Simple. When you see Ry again, tell him about me. Everything.”

 

The enormous beast gave a simple answer to Viran, and as his heart shook he accepted.

The mana was warm, almost too warm for the young boy. Despite the obstacles until now he had persevered through everything and as the raging wildfire scorched around the young boy, his attention was taken wholeheartedly by the calm puddle that laid within the wildfire that surged on.

 

Until now he had only suffered a multitude of setbacks, but no more. As the wildfire disappeared around him only to be replaced by solid lines of black and white around him, Viran looked back towards the group that had stayed with him throughout his time in Tenus Forest.

As a small object whizzed through the air towards Viran his hand hurriedly reached out and caught it firmly in his grasp, crushing it completely and eeking out the juices. Viran could ‘see’ it all clearly. The bumpy exterior of the fruit, the cold juices that oozed out of it, and the faces of the people that had supported him until now. Virans eyes glanced down, and what was once the calming puddle was no more. The puddle had now become the size of a pond, yet it still retained the serene and calming nature it always held.

 

Viran could feel his mana leaving his body at an alarming rate, and he released the spell.. The black and white lines disappeared and everything returned to normal, it was a bewildering experience for the young boy. Releasing the spell to regain his normal senses somehow formed a sense of loss within Viran, but that didn’t matter.

 

He had finally succeeded in breaking through the second threshold.

 

“Aha! Great job, kid!” Rufus bellowed loudly as he clapped Viran’s back firmly, evoking a grunt of pain from Viran.

 

“You oaf! Can you stop hitting the kid too hard? He’s in the middle of growing and you’ll break his bones.” Junia called out to Rufus while sitting down not far away. Despite her efforts, a smile was still stitched on her face.

 

“And, kid. Good job.” Junia finished off.

 

Viran nodded meekly and smiled in a shy manner. After all they all thought Viran was able to clear his mind completely to figure out how to get through the bottleneck he met in the spell, except it wasn’t quite that.

 

After Viran had accepted the conditions Ceru Venetus gave the spell really had worked its wonders and Viran felt refreshed almost immediately. After giving his simple thanks to the creature Viran and Elena left in a hurry, after all Viran needed to finish the spell as soon as possible. Of course, before the duo had reached the camp Viran made sure to drill it in Elena’s head that she absolutely can’t tell anyone his name or slip up and despite the confusion at first, Viran was hopeful that she understood him completely.

 

But still, Viran could not help but feel bothered by Ceru. The disgusting snarl and it's weird happy expression was imprinted in his mind, Viran felt that telling Ry about the blessing would prove to be more tumultuous than he originally thought.

 

“Kid.” Marcus called out to Viran from the side.

 

Viran’s eyes went wide as he reached his hands out only to feel the familiar weight of a sword. It was the sword he had used to slay the Panther so long ago, the sword made out of Cerulean steel. The boy knew the sword wasn’t much to the icy man in front of him, but tears still welled up in his eyes. Through the sword Viran had found happiness, and through the sword he had found them all.

 

To Viran it was a special gift.

 

“Marcus… Even though I am incapable. I wish to repay this debt one day. To every single one of you.” Viran stood firmly on the ground with even firmer words spoken. Towards what he had said, they could only stare and smile towards him.

“I guess he’s really gone, huh.” Rufus muttered under his breath.

 

“Yeah it’s a shame too. But we couldn’t very well stay here much longer, we need to reach the Zora territory within a month. I fear we won’t be able to make the deadline.” Junia responded back with a despondent face.

 

“I hope we meet again…” Elena gave her forlorn hope to the wind, as to which no one could say for sure whether her wish would be met.

 

The three there were the most obviously affected by Viran overall. Jules and Marcus merely looked on apathetically towards the young boy that walked to the ends of the forest and into the unattended roads beyond. With a commoner’s clothes on and a simple scabbard Viran walked away, it took all he had to not look back to them all.

 

“Jules!” Elena called out.

 

Her sudden scream shocked the group somewhat and they felt that Elena had perhaps undergone a change, it wasn’t everyday she would raise her voice with such fervor.

 

“I-! I-! I want to learn spells again! If Viran can go on… Then I will go along with him!”

 

Her sudden declaration was met with bizarre gazes as a hopeful smile grew on Jules’ face.