Sky followed behind Avis as they soon made it back to the cave entrance. They both released a sigh and laid down for the remaining of the evening and night. Exhausted from the events that transpired, they both quickly fell asleep.

Morning soon rose with the tweeting of the birds and the sun bombarding them with its warmth. They both woke up and stretched their bodies before getting up. Avis picked up the weird multi-headed snake creature for breakfast, and Sky cooked a part of it. They both ate in silence, enjoying the peace and quiet of the morning.

"Ding!

"Quest: 'Save the forest!' Completed!

"Rewards: Ancient Relic"

"Did the system just reward the relic you obtained yourself..." Avis asked in disbelief.

"I hate the soul system..." Sky muttered.

"Ding!

"Sky's Status Loading..."

Sky's status:

Ether Capacity: 1%

Health: 100%

Stamina: 100%

--

Strength: Lvl.4

Agility: Lvl.6

Endurance: Lvl.8

Ether: Lvl.6

--

Skills:

Ether's Eye: Lvl3

See the world from the perspective of ether.

Ether Manipulation: Lvl.2

Manipulate ether around you.

Strengthened by 'Ether's Acknowledgement'.

--

Titles:

A Touch of Darkness

[Error!]

[A Touch of Darkness has been mutated. Adapting changes...]

A Heart of Darkness

Ether's Acknowledgement

--

Saturn's Relic:

Darkness: Lv.2

Nature: Lv.1

[Locked]: Lv.0

[Locked]: Lv.0

[Locked]: Lv.0

[Locked]: Lv.0

[Locked]: Lv.0

[Locked]: Lv.0

--

Avis and Sky stared at the display of information in front of them for a few minutes before looking at each other.

"What do you think it means by 'mutated'?" Avis asked.

"Forget that! What the hell is Saturn's Relic?! Is that the eight-faced relic inside my soul space?" Sky asked as he looked at Avis with a confused expression.

"I'm not sure, but it seems like it."

Silence fell between the two of them as they tried to process the information in front of them. What was once a simple goal of just trying to survive by levelling up got much more complicated.

"You still have 1% ether..." Avis said.

"What do you think that means? I've been able to use ether and store it in my core?"

"I'll have a conversation with the system later. Right now, I think we need to find out more about this relic. What it is and what it does." Avis said before a convenient popup thanks to the system answered his question.

"Would you like to display information about Saturn's Relic?"

"Yes." Sky and Avis said in unison.

A new message popped up. It was a mirky green message that was almost hard to read.

"Information about Saturn's Relic is currently restricted. Please try again later."

"Are you playing around or something?!" Avis shouted in an outburst.

The system instinctively shrank its message box and cowered in fear. "N-No! I'm not! I really don't know!" a message box wrote.

Sky sighed before asking, "Is there any information you're able to provide? And since when do you interact with people?! You always respond to me in short and to-the-point messages."

The system didn't interact or respond to Sky's question. Sky could see the system thinking for a second before it responded.

"Information on the unlocked attributes loading...

'I feel ignored,' Sky thought.

"The darkness attribute is corrupt and dangerous. It is currently suppressed inside your heart and can only be used when the seal is broken.

"The nature attribute is pure and natural. It can be used to create and develop life.

"The locked attributes are currently unknown."

"I think we have our answer," Avis said after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah, but what can we do about it? I'm more worried about the darkness attribute. If it's being suppressed by the nature attribute at a lower level, then should we prioritise strengthening the nature attribute?" Sky asked.

"Not necessarily. Even though the attribute gets stronger the higher level you are, your control over that attribute also gets weaker. So rather than levelling up the nature attribute, it would be worth investing your time in manipulating both attributes."

"You want me to learn how to simultaneously control the darkness and nature attributes?" Sky asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Humans generally have two or three attributes, and often times they won't touch the attributes they're weak to manipulate. You want control, Sky. Not just control over your attributes, but mastery. I believe that is how to not just subdue the darkness but take control of it."

"But that's all speculation, Avis! You can't be serious... what if I lose control of the darkness..."

"Don't worry. I have a clear plan for that."

With that, Avis explained the plan he had been thinking about. The plan was simple. Master manipulating the nature attribute. When that is done, gradually learn to control the darkness attribute and use the nature attribute to guide the manipulation if it goes off course.

"But what if it backfires and I go dark instead?" Sky asked with a worried expression.

Avis was silent for a few moments before responding, "I'll be there to guide you every step of the way. And if it really comes down to it, I'll just have to beat some sense into you. This is the best course of action in the long run."

Sky couldn't help but feel relieved at Avis's reassuring words. Even though the plan was simple, it seemed like Avis had thought it through. And with that, the two of them set out to begin their training.

Sky walked through a meadow not too far away from the spirit pond. The field was a beautiful sight with the sun shining down on it and the flowers in full bloom. As Sky walked, he felt a sudden urge to stop and look at the plants. He wasn't sure why, but he thought he needed to see the plants. So he looked at the ether and how it interacted with the plants and was surprised to see the ether being pulled into the plants. It looked like the plants absorbed the ether through their petals, and that ether is then filtered into a nature attribute before reaching the stem of the plant.

"So that's how it works..." Sky muttered to himself as he continued to watch the process. He then felt a presence behind him and turned around to see Avis floating towards him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Avis asked.

"Just watching the ether being absorbed by the plants. I had a feeling I needed to see it, so I did,"

"You had a feeling? That must be caused by the nature attribute changing your instincts. From now on, you'll be 'naturally' attracted to nature in a way you weren't before. As for what you were seeing, the plant uses the ether to grow. It takes in the ether and uses it to create more cells. If a plant absorbs enough ether, they become a rare material with unique properties." Avis was going to continue before he looked at Sky's grimacing face and stopped.

"Are you okay?" Avis asked with a worried expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine... it's just, how can you say they're only 'material' when they're alive? They have a soul, Avis... can't you feel it?" Sky asked with a pained expression.

Avis simply stared at Sky for a few moments, 'Is this guy an idiot?' he thought. After sighing and floating closer to him.

"I know it's hard to accept, but plants are part of the food chain, just as we are. They're born, they grow, and they die. That's just the way nature works. But that doesn't mean we can't appreciate them for what they are. They're still beautiful, even if they're just 'material'."

Avis's words resonated with Sky, and he came to an understanding even though it felt wrong. He knew that Avis was right and slowly started to accept it.

"Okay~?" Avis asked with a small smile.

"Yeah, okay...," Sky responded with a smile of his own before the two of them focused on the task at hand. Avis directed Sky to a plant. It was a small plant with white flower petals and a green dye on the edges.

"This plant is called 'Lunar Orchid'. It's a plant that only blooms at night and is very common in these parts. What do you feel from this plant? Anything strange about it?" Avis asked.

Sky shook his head before reaching out to touch the plant. He felt a small amount of ether being pulled into the plant. It was weaker than the other plant he was admiring but still made its presence known. He looked closer at the ether lines, which functioned the same as any other, except for one point.

"I can see a rich purple ether within the stem, much more concentrated than the other plants around it."

"That's not what I asked. What do you feel from it?" Avis asked with an amused expression.

"I feel... a deep sadness from it. It's as if this plant is mourning something." Sky said with a frown.

"Mm, that's not too far from the truth. The Lunar Orchid is known as 'the flower of grief'. It's said that this plant only blooms when something dies, and the ether it produces is used for mourning the deceased. It's also said that if you touch this plant when it's in bloom, you'll see the memories of the dead being. Whether human or not, the memories will be shown to you." Avis explained.

"So, this plant shows the memories of the deceased...," Sky muttered as he pulled his hand away from the plant.

"Now that you're surrounded by nature, can you feel it resonate from within?"

"I can sense a familiarity. Like a common ground between me and the nature around me." Sky said as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"You're resonating with nature, Sky. Suppose the nature attribute is like any other attribute I have knowledge of. In that case, this resonating should be the same as the sensing stage."

"Sensing stage? What's that?" Sky asked with a confused expression.

"In the sensing stage, you can sense the presence of the attribute you have a connection to. For example, if you have the fire attribute, you can sense when there's a fire around. Whether it's fire, lava, magma, or embers, they all fall under the fire attribute. Although, you do find some beings with a specialised attribute under the main attribute. regardless of that, It's like a sixth sense." Avis explained. "When the time comes, you'll be able to manipulate all of this around you like it was an extension of your body."

"Wow... so, I'll be able to control plants like they're my own limbs?" Sky asked with wide eyes.

"Not just plants, but anything with the nature attribute. Now you just need to ask yourself... what is nature? And what does it consist of?" Avis asked before disappearing into the shadows, leaving Sky to his own thoughts.