Looking back at the Poison Spider, Henry explained. "The legend says that some of the Chaos Monsters in the Physical Realm didn't start off as Chaos Monsters."
The words left Henry's mouth like a paralyzing agent, freezing Talen in place, his thoughts slow and murky. 'H-how.' Talen's thoughts stuttered.
Chaos Monsters were meant to be and were disasters incarnate, demons, monsters that killed indiscriminately without a reason.
'Who then.' Talen searched his mind for answers. 'Who then killed mom.' He thought.
It did not matter how hard he thought, the answers were never in his mind however.
Clenching his fist, Talen slipped away from his mind's iron grip, glancing at Henry he waited.
Noticing Talen's piercing empty gaze glued to his side, Henry's feet took a shaky step back. "J-just ask me to continue." He blurted, the words slipping through his trembling lips.
Glancing around, Henry continued. "Look, I wasn't the brightest kid in class, so t-take it with a pinch of salt."
Henry's words travelled through the air like a needle depleting Talen's hope for answers. 'All that for what.' He thought, clenching his fist harder. A sharp sound escaped his lips.
Seeing Talen's reaction, Henry gritted his teeth. He declared. "That doesn't mean I don't know anything." His words a proclamation of knowledge he didn't possess. 'I'm not stupid.' Henry thought, glaring at Talen.
"The legend suggests that long ago, probably during the early millennia of the Physical Realm, some of the now Chaos Monsters were not, well, Chaos Monsters."
Glancing at the Poison Spider, Henry continued his tale. "Something or someone turned all of them into Chaos Monsters. However, currently they're very rare."
Observing the poison sack, his eyes glistened with realisation. "Upon death they revert." He muttered, the words travelling from his mouth like a practiced rhyme.
Talen smiled, realising his previous dilemma held no merit. 'So it was just Chaos Monsters that butchered my village.' He chuckled, the air escaping his mouth in huffs of relief. "Makes it easier."
Twisting his head towards Talen, Henry saw a sight that seemed so unnatural. He was chuckling, but there was nothing behind it.
Inhaling, Henry prepared to comment. However, the air travelling through his dry, desert throat sent him into a swirl of coughs. "We need to get water." He rasped, calming his coughs.
Too lost in thought, Talen missed Henry's comment.
Although the complete revelation cleared the fog it had conjured, it had left a thicker one in place. After all, the how, the why, the who, and more importantly, how much merit could Talen give the legend all remain unanswered.
As Talen hopelessly wondered, he saw from the corner of his eyes, Henry's silhouette. Glancing at him, Talen asked wordlessly.
Noticing his gaze on him, Henry paused. 'I could have sworn he was zoned out.' He thought, looking at Talen curiously.
"You're not normal, ar-" He asked, the words slipping out until he realised. "W-what I meant is we need to g-get water." He chuckled, a robotic chuckle.
"Any idea?" Talen asked, acknowledging his own dried throat.
Again Talen left Henry surprised. 'Hasn't he drunk any water since?' He thought, desperately clinging to his sanity.
Henry waited patiently for Talen to explain further. However, Talen just kept his eyes on the corpse, lost in thought. "I give up, you're not normal at all." Henry cried, walking to the spider.
Catching a glimpse of the walking Henry, Talen hurriedly shouted. "Wait." The words streamed out in a forced, yet involuntary manner.
Henry froze hearing Talen's shout. Turning around, he waited for Talen to continue.
"Aren't you gonna say goodbye." Talen continued, his voice quieter.
"To.....the spider?" Henry asked, scratching the back of his head.
"No." Talen replied with a nostalgic tone. "I want you to say goodbye to Lillian."
Though his words referred to Henry and Lillian, he meant something else.
That day, he had left home, breaking a tradition to get moonlight flowers, his mother's favourite. He wanted to surprise her. However, when he returned, he was the one who was surprised.
It was fiery surprise, a surprise in flames.
The most heartbreaking fact was he couldn't say goodbye.
Henry's face darkened at the suggestion.
Dropping his head, he remembered his short time with Lillian. "I've already done that." He sighed, walking.
Burying deep inside, the memories of Lillian.
"Lucky." Talen whispered, followed by a dry chuckle.
Stepping into the Zone, Talen leapt onto the spider's head.
Clenching the jian, Talen tightened his muscles, pulling it out.
Jumping down, Talen followed behind Henry.
A few minutes into their walk, Talen asked. "Second question."
Henry sighed. "Go on."
"How do I get to a level 3 Zone." Talen asked, slashing at a tree branch.
Henry stopped abruptly, stunned by the question. Looking at Talen closely, he studied him again, asking. "You're joking, right."
Talen sighed, the air whistling out of his mouth in a sharp stream. "Yeah, I would ask you a question knowing the answer, wouldn't I?" He replied, tilting his head to the side.
He kept walking.
"Wait." Henry blurted in a hurry. "I was just surprised. What you asked me is common knowledge, that's why." Henry continued, trying to justify himself.
Pausing mid-step, Talen said. "Go on then. Bless me with your common knowledge."
Quickening his steps, Henry caught up to him. "The answer is pretty simple." He paused, catching his breath. "You just need to awaken your Zone ability, that's it." He answered, in heavy breaths.
Glancing at Henry, his eyes twitched. 'Should I just torture the information out of him.' Talen thought, regretting his decisions leading up to the moment.
Ultimately, Talen threw the idea of torture aside. Henry would break too easily, and meeting another candidate was very unlikely.
Reluctantly, he sighed asking. "Any idea how you awaken the Zone ability?" The words floating on a breath of frustration.
Looking at Talen, Henry wondered in bewilderment about Talen's origins. However, nothing could stick. 'Come to think of it, he doesn't have a last name. He fights well, but I've never heard of him. Wait.'
Suddenly Henry had an epiphany that made him look at Talen in a new light. 'Poor thing must be a bastard child of one of the Five Great Families. That explains his power.' He thought, his eyes overflowing with concern.
Growing tired of waiting, Talen glanced at him only to be met with sparkling eyes of concern. 'Torture is looking very appealing right now.' He thought, pinching his temples.
With another sigh, Talen addressed Henry. "Waste my time like that again." Looking down at his fingers he continued. "One of them is going missing." He declared, his tone deliberately low.
Henry gulped, his heart beating in an erratic rhythm.
Curling his fingers away, he answered. "M-most people believe the Zone lets you awaken your ability when you push yourself well beyond your limit. It'll whisper."
He turned looking at Talen, a wide smile creeping onto his face. "Get this though, some idiots think you need to condense Neather to awaken your ability." He burst out laughing at his own joke.
Calming down his laughter, he continued. "That's stupid because you only sense Nether at level 3." He burst out in another round of hysterical laughter, clutching his sides.
Ignoring Henry, Talen went into thought. 'More useless information. I'll just ask Ashen once we're done here.' Talen thought, glaring at Henry. 'Eugh, so useless.'
Suddenly his ears picked up a soft liquid chuckle.
"Water." Henry whispered, his eyes locking onto Talen's.
As their eyes met, Henry beamed with a moist glint. "Water." He roared, running ahead.
Watching the idiot ahead, Talen shouted. "You idiot, stop. You're gonna get yourself killed."
However, Henry completely ignored Talen's justified warning. After all, for all he knew, that could be the only water source on Roku, meaning Chaos Monsters would inevitably be around.
Even if it's not the only one, that doesn't mean Chaos Monsters wouldn't be there. After all, a water source is a water source.
However, it seemed Henry only considered the fact it was a water source.
Sighing again, Talen hastened his steps, trudging after Henry.
As Talen caught up with him, he stepped out from the forest. However, they were not alone at the clearing, as Talen had dreaded.
...
At the same time, in the ruined clearing.
Two silhouettes appeared. One had a long elegant tail, the other two black horns.
Stepping out from the dense forest, Calistis and Valen witnessed the aftermath of Talen and the Poison Spider's battle.
They both froze. Valen's heart beat like battle drums, his fist clenched, eyes shining with anticipation.
Calistis's tail slowly rested on the leaves, her mind whirling like a machine analysing the carnage that lay before her.
"Who do you think did this?" Valen asked, finally able to close his mouth.
Calistis's cold black eyes darted around the clearing, taking in every inch of it.
As she did, the dark feeling in her heart grew stronger, so did her grip around the knight sword. 'It should have been me.' She thought, gritting her teeth.
Receiving no answer, Valen leaned in close, his warm breath cold against her face. Waving, he said. "Hello."
His voice and breath a trigger, pulling Calistis out from her thoughts. Turning her head, she glared. "What?" She demanded, stepping back.
Valen sighed, already used to her behaviour. He asked again. "Who do you think did this."
Scanning the clearing one more time, she answered. "I can't estimate yet. I need to investigate further."
Navigating their way through the maze of boulders, they approached the giant corpse.
'It doesn't matter who. They are clearly brave and heroic. We would be great friends.' Valen thought, jumping over a boulder with an earnest smile.
Standing beneath the Chaos Monster, both gave each other a silent glance.
Who? remained the persistent question.
Closer to the spider, Calistis stepped into the Zone.
Her pupils darted around in a blue blur.
Drifting out of the Zone, her breathing became erratic however, in a clam manner. Cold sweat forming on her forehead.
Collecting herself, she began reporting. "Its element was earth." She paused, stepping closer. "It was a ranged fighter, using its tail, boulders, and poison webs, so it had very little melee defence."
Observing the clearing for the first time, Valen noticed evidence giving merit to her claims, but he was still surprised.
After all, he didn't even observ or make any links he had been too focused on how epic the battle was. "Yes, I agree." Valen replied, faking understanding. "So any guess now."
"Still need more data." She replied.
Over the course of hours, Calistis strolled around the spider, observing it. After which she had Valen leap onto the giant corpse to report his findings.
Once she was satisfied with the more detailed findings, she spoke. "I have a guess."
Smiling, Valen jumped.
Landing next to her, he asked. "So who is it." The words streaming from his mouth in a rush.
"The slayer was proficient in both melee and ranged battle." Calistis explained, glancing at the broken wooden spears they gathered and the spider's head.
"A mind Zone in order to analyse the spider's attack pattern." She paused. "And a body Zone in order to bypass the spider's web of attacks and slay it." She said, the truth tasting like a lie as she spoke it.
Valen burst out in laughter, clutching his stomach. However, the look on Calistis's face was not an amused one. Rather, it was a grave one. "You're serious?" He asked.
Calistis nodded.
Silence.
Calistis and Valen froze in the shared paralysis of discovery, the air thick between them.
Not a word was uttered. However, one shared thought, one shared question echoed louder than the Poison Spider's roar.
'What monster are we taking these trials with?'
A monster never seen before.