Chapter 19: An Unfamiliar Memory

The loud thud in the forest broke Kaelthorn out of his thoughts.

He rose from the stump and moved into the forest, his steps blurring as the ground vanished beneath him.

Minutes later, he stood within a charred clearing, hands clasped behind his back, eyes dissecting the scene

“This is necessary…”

His eyes glowed and he looked into the distance, his eyebrows furrowed and he directly teleported to the spot where Aden lay.

The scent of charred flesh wafted through his nostrils, but his face remained unfazed as he stood above him.

Their eyes connected— one unyielding, but clearly in pain, and one… calculating and slightly sympathetic.

The roasted air blew past them, carrying ash and dried blood past their figures. The sun hung unfeelingly in the sky as it cast it’s taunting glow upon them.

Slowly, Aden’s mouth opened— Pained, but determined.

“I didn’t pass out…this time…”

Kaelthorn nodded as a magic circle formed on his outstretched palms, green energy flowing out of them and landing on him in dusty particles.

No one made any comment as the healing process took effect. Aden’s body gradually healed, the scalds faded and his hair grew back to it’s natural length.

It was as if time was rewound, apart from the situation of Aden’s clothes.

Kaelthorn calmly stepped back as his eyes watched him, Aden took to his feet with a wronged expression.

His mouth mumbled something that he was sure his master couldn’t hear:

“Stop looking at me like that.”

Aden walked forward, a neutrality residing within his eyes.

“I encountered a beast during my task, but I managed to handle it.”

Without waiting for his response, he walked past him briskly.

“Thank you for healing me, Master. I’ll continue my assignment,” Aden whispered as he vanished into the dilapidated jungle.

Aden’s eyes flared in anger as he broke through the trees that stood in his way with a casual swipe of his arms.

“Still looks at me like I’m some specimen or convict,” he muttered.”…To hell with him”

Spotting a massive tree ahead, he approached without hesitation. His hands closed around the trunk, and with a grunt, he tore it free from its roots, hoisting it onto his shoulder.

The thumps of his steps resonated in the forest, but he showed no difficulty as he moved quickly to the direction of the cabin.

A few hours passed before Aden reached his destination, his master sitting calmly on a stone pavement.

A loud crash broke the silence between them.

Aden’s hands became coated in transparent energy, and pierced cleanly into the tree trunk.

With an empty expression, he drew his hands through it’s length and repeated it mechanically till they fell apart in fifty halves.

His eyes never once broke concentration from his task, every movement was controlled and precise.

Large gusts of wind followed as he slammed the trunks straight into the soil and began construction.

With practiced movements, he slammed the well cut hooks and every other material needed for the construction.

His mind grew blank, the transparent energy grew calmer but more thicker, the air twisted itself around him— calmer, more controlled, almost conscious.

The winds blew against his elongated silver hair as he finished up the last piece of his master’s room and remodeled his.

The sun had retreated slightly, leaving a warmer glow to accompany Aden as he summarized his task.

Jumping off the roof with nothing more than a whisper of a footstep, he dropped the axe and walked towards his master emotionlessly.

“I’m done, Master.”

His eyes locked with Kaelthorn’s for two beats before he looked away calmly.

“Well done.”

Aden nodded but his heart remained calm.

“You’ve broken through too. That’s worth celebrating.”

Aden clenched his fists and bowed as he spoke:

“There’s no need for that. I need to rest and stabilize my energy.”

A moment of silence followed as Aden remained in his bowed position.

“…Have your rest.”

Nodding, he walked to his room and slammed the door shut.

The scent of something akin to mahogany filtered through his nostrils, the newly sanded floor glowed softly as he walked upon them.

A desk rested in the corner, hand made books stacked upon themselves with a couple of writing materials.

Sitting in a locus position on his bed, Aden closed his eyes and focused on the internal energy that flowed unrestrainedly within his body.

Some time passed as he remained in that position, casual twitches of his eyebrows and steady rise and fall of his chest denoted his state.

His eyes opened, his hands outstretched before himself as he folded and unfolded them.

“A breakthrough…” He murmured. “How anticlimactic…”

As every boy his age, Aden had naturally heard and read about the mystical fantasy world and everything that followed, so there was some hope was that his breakthrough would be akin to those he read about.

The ground shattering, screams sounding far into the distance, the gasps and shocks of the onlookers and the trembling of the heavens in acknowledgement.

The reality — or perhaps, his reality, proved different.

“Second stage of the Attuned realm,” he sighed. “Guess I expected too much.”

His head buzzed slightly as he recollected the memories of the original owner of the body.

“Only four stages left, huh…”

If he remembered correctly from the fragments left behind by the boy who once owned this body, there were five realms with five stages each.

Faint resonance— which were those who hadn’t fully awakened, Attuned, Aligned, Harmonic, Dissonant and Resonance Lord.

The title of the last was only possessed by the king and…

His father.

A small sigh left Aden’s lips as he digested the bits of information.

There was little the former owner of the body knew about his own father. The only memories he had was of the cold expression on his face as he would be locked in his room for days without food or water.

That and the brutal beatings he would be forced to bear after his…deviations with the maids and women of the kingdom.

Heck, he didn’t even know his name.

“Pitiful,” he muttered. “But deserving.”

As he stretched, the setting sun flashed its rays on the ring that had grown stuck on his finger these past few months.

His mind automatically recalled the life threatening moments he was faced with when he had tried to access it.

His jaw clenched lightly as he focused on the carvings on the ring.

“These look familiar…”

A foreign sense of servitude welled within him as he stared at the carvings in a trance like state.

His vision blurred— then shifted.

Two eyes fixed on an octopus like figure that rested on a jagged rock flashed in his vision, the seas crashed against the rock with loud sloshing sounds. A woman made of stars wrapped her hands around it’s neck as beautiful symphonies left her lips.

Suddenly, the image shattered like glass and Aden snapped out of his trance.

He blinked quickly and stared intensely at the ring once again to confirm his sanity, but only an emblem with an griffon holding a flag showed itself.

The back of his palms cleaned themselves against his eyes multiple times, but his family’s emblem didn’t dissapear.

“What in the world?”

A sharp pain passed through his head and he let out a cold hiss as he clutched both sides.

“I stabilized my energy as Master taught me, so why?”

His hands glowed as he pressed them against his temples and the pain gradually alleviated.

An exhale left his lips before he lay on the newly laid fur bed gotten from his most recent expedition.

Falling into its softness, Aden closed his eyes consciously and muttered something under his breath before falling asleep, whispers of discomfort in his face as he drifted off.

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