APieceOfRock

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Hayan Leinfall was the one whom Nova called “mom.”

It had been a few weeks since Nova talked, and since then, he hadn’t spoken another word.

‘Something’s wrong with him,’ she thought.

It wasn’t because of the fact that he could talk, nor was it due to him having been able to understand the story at all. Instead, it was his expression.

Since birth, Nova’s face hadn’t expressed any emotion. Even when he cried, he did so with a stone-cold face. Of course, Hayan took him to a doctor. Apparently, it was a condition that only allowed him to express his emotions if he experienced a strong enough stimulus.

Hayan was infinitely relieved as soon as she heard this since it meant that her son wasn’t on his way to be an emotionless killing machine—rather, he just couldn’t express himself.

‘But still, he looks… wounded. His eyes are almost soulless.’

She didn’t know what caused him to suddenly be like that. Maybe it was because of the shock of finding out that Archmage Ihwa was dead? 

‘Perhaps he got too attached to her character.’

If so, Hayan reminded herself not to make stories too life-like for Nova in the future.

However, that wasn’t important right now. She needed to find a way to cure his soullessness! No mother could stand still seeing her sun like this!

As such, she picked Nova up from his cradle and wrapped him in a layer of warm blanket and baby clothes.

“Come on, little one. Let’s go for a walk, shall we?”

Nova was unresponsive, but it didn’t waver Hayan’s resolve. She exited Nova’s small baby room and entered the luxurious hallways of the mansion she was staying.

‘Let’s see… if I take a left here, I should arrive at the garden.’

And she did. Lush trees, colorful flowers that contrasted against the cold snow, and the chilly morning breeze were all the confirmation that this was the garden. Hayan made her way toward a patch of flowers and crouched down.

“See this, little one?” She pointed toward a flower with white petals. “This is a daisy, mommy’s favorite flower. Look!” She plucked one and brought it close to her nose to sniff it. “Doesn’t it smell good?”

But Nova didn’t react.

Not willing to give up just yet, she picked another flower—a marigold. “Look at these orange petals, aren’t they pretty? I heard that Saintess Emilia and Archmage Ihwa loved this flower.”

Nova’s blank eyes quivered for just a split second. However, Hayan managed to catch this.

‘...Is he only interested in Hero-related things?’

Hayan grinned. If so, then it was perfect! She had spent all her career documenting the Hero’s journey after all. However, she had almost run out of things to tell Nova since she had already reached the end of the book.

‘It’s a bit too soon to tell him this but… it’s worth a try.’

Placing the marigold on Nova’s hand, she sat down next to the patch of flowers and began the story.

“Little one, listen, I’m going to tell you what happened after the Demon king was defeated.”

This caught Nova’s attention, just a little bit.

Clearing her throat, Hayan continued. “As the Demon king screamed his final despicable words, he cursed the Hero— no, the entirety of humanity. Rifts that are connected to pocket dimensions and pour monsters out if not cleared in time appeared all over the world, this time not just in the Otherworlders' dwellings. Soon, right on the corpse of the Demon king, a colossal tower appeared. Legends say that a wish shall be granted to whoever clears the final floor.”

Seeing that Nova’s eyes were widening and looked less soulless now, Hayan continued enthusiastically. “Yes, a wish that powerful beings known as Constellations will grant. If you reach the top floor, maybe you can request the Constellations to let you meet the Ihwa you like so much,” she chuckled at the joke she made.

Hayan could notice that something had changed in Nova’s eyes. The soullessness of before was replaced with something more… complicated. Whatever it was, Hayan knew that it was a good thing. Her motherly instincts told her so.

Having achieved her goal, Hayan kissed Nova’s forehead and softly smiled.

“It’s getting a bit too cold here. Let’s go inside, little one.”

***

As mom and I finished our little excursion in the garden, I was placed back into the cradle.

Mom tugged me up and kissed my forehead again before whispering a “good night.”

Staring blankly at the ceiling, I gripped the marigold in my hand and held it up.

‘Ihwa…’

Mom was right. Ihwa loved marigolds. I could still remember vividly the warm sunlight that reflected off the marigold placed on her brown locks on our first date. Her blood-red eyes would curve into crescent moons as she smiled brightly.

Deliberately pulling myself from the nostalgia, I held my other arm up, aiming to increase my Aura reserve little by little by absorbing the ambient Aura until my body couldn’t take it anymore. Soon, strands of blue in the air were pulled into my palm. Closing my eyes, I could “see” said strands traveling through my body before coiling around the sphere that was in my heart.

‘Life core…’

However, it didn’t take long for me to feel a sharp pain in my heart. Clutching my left chest, I hurriedly terminated my contact with the Aura strands. Now that the danger had passed, I heaved a sigh of relief and frustration.

‘Looks like it’s this body limit… for now.’

If I wanted to increase my Aura reserve, I needed to go through pain worse than this every day.

A normal 5-month-old— hell, a normal adult wouldn’t be able to withstand doing this! But who was I? I was the greatest Swordsmaster! I’ve endured pains worse than this.

And… I had a goal; one that I must achieve at all costs.

‘Ihwa… I’ll definitely conquer the Tower and revive you!’

Such pains were trivial if I could get the chance to see Ihwa again.

Although I wasn’t exactly satisfied with today’s progress, I still had to rest. My body was already at its limit after all. Just another light push and it would break down completely.

Thus, I closed my heavy eyelids and fell into slumber.

APieceOfRock

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