‘I wonder when, I wonder when I’ll find that beautiful pair of sisters Aqua and I talked about’ Shio mused to himself while he leisurely climbed one of the tall trees in the jungle. It was early in the morning and Shio wanted to find the landmark that he needed to reach in order to become a Swimmer.

“Hey don’t look at me that way, I’ll find a beautiful tigress for you too” the cub seemed to be displeased with the lewd thoughts of his master as it growled in disagreement and playfully bit his masters ankle.

“Hey stop that I’ll, If I fall, at least I’ll take you down with me!” Shio was in fact introverted and shy, but he had acquired some of his brother’s traits.

He would have never said something along those lines if Aqua was with him. He would tease Shio to no end. As he had been alone in the jungle for quite some time, he felt in need of someone to converse with. The cub ended up being some sort of replacement. Shio didn’t even need to talk out loud with the tiger, he could communicate telepathically with his partner. Sometimes he would just speak out loud, because it felt weird to be silent for long periods of time.

These last few days had been a bit uneventful, so he got to learn more about his companion’s personality. The tiger was what you would call a mood, sometimes it would feel playful and active, sometimes it would just refuse to move from the spot and his master had to hold him in his back like a backpack.

Beneath the cub's playful demeanor, a hint of pride and arrogance surfaced, particularly when Shio's ideas strayed into the realm of the impractical or indelicate. Yet, this unspoken chastening only deepened their bond.

Shio had also learned that the cub would grow a bit more powerful with each kill, it seemed that each kill would lead him further in the path of descension. Each day the tiger would spend a few hours still coursing its essence through his body. He learned from the tiger, that meditation would improve his control over essence and that would improve his battle performance. He’d be able to activate his abilities faster and using less essence.

After a few hours climbing Shio and the tiger reached the top of the tree.

‘I’m pretty sure that’s what I was looking for.’

Before them stood a spectacle that seemed to bridge the realms of reality and legend. A magnificent tree, with colossal branches that reached out like benevolent arms, spread its canopy wide over the jungle. Its immense presence seemed to command the attention of all living things around it.

This tree was no mere botanical creation; it was a sentinel of nature's grandeur, its immense form casting a protective shadow over the lush wilderness below. Its bark, weathered by the ages, told stories of countless seasons and whispered secrets of the land. The leaves, vibrant and verdant, rustled in a harmonious melody with the gentle breeze, creating a symphony of nature's beauty.

Meanwhile Aqua was searching for the fourth shadow creature, he had already healed from his wounds after coursing his essence through the damaged leg for a day and afterwards he had killed two more beasts: an umbral stalker and an eclipse panther.

The former had the ability of merging with the shadows and creating illusions by commanding the shadows. He had been quite lucky with that one, as he managed to take it by surprise. While the creature was eating Aqua managed to sneak behind it and threw his harpoon at its head. The latter was a bit more difficult as it had the ability of absorbing and reflecting light, Aqua couldn’t relay on his eyes so he had to use a similar tactic as he did with the first shadow creature. He spread a field of water droplets around him and turned the ground around him into ice. The creature tried to blind him reflecting the light around it but got caught by the water droplets. It ended the same way as it did with the other two. Aqua had gotten his first Shell after killing the panther.

Lucky mirror: [this Shell can absorb or reflect light around the holder] The shell was a little hand-mirror, the type of mirror that women used for their make-up.

Aqua had also climbed a tree and found where he needed to head to. Even so, he refused to delve deeper into the jungle without his third form.

As he was looking running through the branches of a tall tree, he found something he would have never expected to find.

‘hahaha oh dear Shio, it turns out I’m the first one to find a girl in the Ocean Realm’ Aqua didn’t know if him being the first one was true, but he thought it was very likely.

‘Why do I have goosebumps?’ Thought Shio to himself.