“How was kissing me in the flesh, Atlas?” Ciel spoke to the red faced, and tired boy within his arms. Atlas being very inexperienced with the passions of kissing, could not handle such excessive stimuli for long. And Ciel, didn’t want to rush anything too soon, so he managed to restrain himself from going further.

      The kiss from earlier was just due to excitement and a long yearning the both of them had. Ciel was born from Atlas’ mind and heart. In the other world, when Atlas was at his loneliest. He would imagine Ciel’s prescience being there with him. They would do many things together.

     Atlas, one day, while feeling the depths of his despair, imagined him and Ciel had a true love for one another. The love the two shared was impossible to contain and the bond unbreakable.

    These thoughts were brought over when Atlas created Ciel. And he wishes for them to remain true. Atlas, loves Ciel. And Ciel will forever love Atlas. The words Atlas spoke earlier were not true. He would never betray Ciel, and he could never love someone as strongly as Ciel.

     “.... The kiss wasn’t bad… It was exactly as thought it would be…” Atlas mumbled quietly with his head laying directly atop Ciel’s chest, listening to his heartbeat.

      “ ‘It sparkled and tasted like starfire’?” Ciel having come from Atlas’ imaginations, knew everything he knew. And perhaps, Ciel will know Atlas better than he would ever would know himself.

    “If you know! Then just don’t say it!” Atlas’ face turned bright red in indignation.

    “Haha.  I’m sorry, Atlas. Don’t be so frustrated.” Ciel smiled happily, while stroking Atlas’ face. And soon added, “But, I’m sorry Atlas. I can’t stop myself from making you feel frustrated. When your face turns red because of me, it makes me happy. When I see you smile because of me, my heart beats ever faster. When I think to myself, that I am doing this to you. That I am causing you to act this way, I feel very happy. And I can’t help but think, ‘Finally, Atlas, is finally in front of me, and his face, and heart, it moves, because of me’.”

     After listening to Ciel’s words, Atlas couldn’t speak. He silently stared at Ciel, unable to think of anything, but soon, like a damn breaking from too much water. Atlas’ eyes grew wet with tears, and his blank face cracked. A mixture of sorrow from reminders of the past, and joy from the very present Ciel’s words, spread upon his face. Atlas feeling overwhelmed with emotion, swung his arms around Ciel’s neck and hugged him tightly.

    He squeezed his head and buried it into the crook of Ciel’s neck and shoulder. Ciel welcomed it all, and hugged him back ever tighter. He moved his arms along Atlas’ back trying to pacify him and comfort him.

    “Hah.” Ciel let out a puff of air and smiled quite haphazardly. He too, overwhelmed with emotion. A mixture of relief at finally seeing Atlas, disbelief at being with Atlas, and sadness at not being there sooner.

    The two stayed in the same position for a long time. Until Atlas’ arms slowly loosened from his previous tight grip. Atlas had fallen into a deep sleep. It was most likely the most relaxing sleep he has ever had. Even when he was surrounded by the animals he made, he was not this relaxed and content.

   Ciel stood up, with Atlas still in his arms, and began to walk around and observe the surrounding area. Ciel was born from the mind and memories of Atlas, but his personality is not so soft and kind.

   Unlike when Atlas first awoke in this world, when things finally calmed down. Ciel decided to make sure this forest was safe. He had to make sure that nothing could hurt Atlas.

   Finishing his survey of the forest, he noticed that there was no danger. The beasts and animals had long deserted this forest due to the drought. And the same could be said for the other sentient creatures, luckily for the two of them, they were alone, and that meant they were safe as well.

   Atlas, having grown from periods of long solitude, can never be relaxed when before others. He will always worry and despair.

  ‘People can never be trusted.’

  This is his cardinal rule, and it can never be broken.

 Ciel shares his thoughts, but even more severe.

 ‘I will never let anyone hurt Ciel.’

 ‘No one can be trusted.’

 ‘Therefore, no one can get close.’

 Determining that it is safe, Ciel puts Atlas down onto a pile of soft grass. The animals Atlas made soon take Ciel’s place and nestle close to him, except for the brown snake, Bru.

  Bru looked up to Ciel and Ciel returned the look. The two stared at each other, and then Bru slithered up close to Ciel and beckoned him to reach out his arm. Ciel did what he was asked, and Bru slithered up his arms and wrapped his body around it. And soon, Bru faded and shrank away. Left in his place was the image of a very detailed snake tattoo running along Ciel’s arms.

  Ciel stared at his arm for a long time, confused at what happened. But soon, he realized what Bru was trying to accomplish. Bru was an animal, but he was created from the pure earth element. And when animals are born, they are already born with a preset instinct within them.

  This instinct allows them to live, to grow, and to survive. And Bru gave this instinct to Ciel, the tattoo represents Bru’s instinct and power, and now it resides within Ciel.

  But why did the other animals not do the same? It was because Ciel shared Bru’s element. Ciel at his core was made from metal, and metal is just earth, but purified and refined. Therefore allowing the two to merge together perfectly. And Bru is not dead, he is merely inside Ciel now, and he can be called upon if he is ever needed.

 Ciel, now with Bru’s instincts, is now made aware of what this world really is. He can feel the flow of mana in the air, called magical power by most. He instinctually knows how to shape it, and use it to his advantage. Ordinary humans have to go through years of study and practice to be able to control mana so fluently.

 Ciel plays with the mana and uses it to move the earth around. He hardens it, shapes it, and interacts with it. After some small practice, Ciel can confidently say he knows how to use the Earth element now. The sentient creatures of this world call it “Earth Magic”, much like in the video games of Atlas’ world.

  Ciel knows what he can do, and what his limits are, thanks to Bru. And thanks to the pure spirit energy that is flowing through him, he can manipulate his magical and latent power more fluidly.

  Spiritual energy in this world has many capabilities. Using the logic from Atlas’ home world, it could be something akin to “chi”, a type of essence that naturally flows throughout the body. The energy can be used to strengthen the body and muscles, making them naturally harder and stronger. It can also be used as a booster for magical power, making it more pure and powerful.

  Spirits are beings made from the purest of spiritual energy. And there body constantly absorbs spiritual energy from their surroundings. Therefore, Spirits as they age, the more powerful they grow. Although this cannot be true for all Spirits. Some spirits naturally absorb faster than others, as well as some Spirits forcing themselves to absorb more spiritutal energy faster and more quickly.

  But, when Spirits, or anyone, force themselves to absorb too much spiritual energy too quickly. It could cause a devastating backlash, and do more harm then good.

 Such a case occurred before and was observed by a Spirit researcher, and noted down within his texts, and it says as such:

 “On the year 2198 of the Dylan Calender, I, Gregory Tine, stumbled across a Spirit. This Spirit has been recorded down and nicknamed as the Reckless Spirit.

   From my knowledge, this is the youngest Spirit currently known. This Spirit was first seen about 200 years ago, and he was called ‘reckless’ because of what he did back then.

 This particular Spirit was seen trying to attack and fight one of its fellow Spirits, apparently, in a show of strength of some sorts. No one had seen a Spirit fight amongst themselves before. As they were all known to be elusive and scarce to be seen.

 But the Reckless Spirit made quite a show of himself, and he challenged a powerful Spirit. Loud explosions and deafening sounds could be heard from all around, the Reckless Spirit’s unique ability, had been noted to do with damage and destruction.

 One of my fellow researchers told me that he can cause mass explosions by throwing spheres of spirit energy. And he also told me that the Reckless Spirit loss badly, and was beaten up quite severely. The Spirit he attacked was one of the strongest so it was only obvious this would happen.

 And so, this was the first major instance of this Spirit ever being recorded, and this moniker has been attached to him since then.

 And on this one particular day, I found the Reckless Spirit meditating on a lone rock. I was curious as to what he was doing, so I stayed to observe him.

 But I soon figured out what he was doing because the air around him started to fluctuate and distort.

This is the phenomenon that occurs when someone is forcing spiritual energy to be absorbed faster then the regular/safe rate!

 The Reckless Spirit is forcing himself to absorb more spiritual energy!

 As a Spirit researcher, I was curious on the effects of a Spirit trying to absorb lots of spiritual energy and wanted to compare it with what we humans did.

 My results were conclusive.

Spirits, like us, when they absorb too much, devastating results would occur.

As I watched the Reckless Spirit absorb more and more spirit energy, I soon saw his face distort with pain and he seemed to be sweating profusely.

The spiritual energy within him became unstable, and it seemed to interfere with his unique Spirit gift. And his gift  was one of destruction and devastation.

The mass amount of spiritual energy he collected interacted with the Reckless Spirit’s power, and a massive explosion occurred.

 The aftermath was terrible.

Even though I was so far away, the explosion still hit me and burnt off all my hair.

 The Reckless Spirit was no longer in the spot I saw him previously.

 It’s been about 80 years, and the Reckless Spirit has not been sighted.

Is this the first instance of a Spirit dying?

         -Gregory Tine’s diary, year 2278, Reckless Spirit still not seen.”