Aeris sat beneath the shade of a tree, his eyes damp as he stared at the fallen leaves scattered across the ground. The silence weighed heavily on him, his thoughts circling endlessly.
"Why hasn't Yuki returned yet? It's been too long… I can't wait here anymore."
He rose abruptly, brushed the dust from his clothes, and broke into a run toward the village. He didn't care about the barrier that guarded its borders; he crossed it recklessly, rushing straight inside.
---
Aeris ran with all the strength in his body. His lungs burned, his chest heaved, but he did not stop until he found her.
Yuki lay unconscious on the crimson-stained earth, her body still and fragile. Aeris's face twisted in fear, his entire being consumed by panic.
In that moment, he failed to notice the Curseuman collapsed nearby, grievously wounded. His focus was wholly on Yuki. Stumbling forward, Aeris dropped to his knees beside her. His own breathing came in sharp, ragged bursts, sweat dripping down his face.
Yuki's body was lying face down on the ground, her upper half unclothed, bare against the dirt. Her breasts were pressed into the earth, hidden only because of the way she had collapsed.
Aeris reached to turn her over, but froze when his eyes caught the pale skin of her exposed waist.
"She's naked? But why? What happened to her here?"
"Maybe… maybe she's still alive!" His voice shook as the words tumbled out, his eyes wide with fear.
He forced himself to look away, scanning the area. That's when he saw it—the Curseuman sprawled nearby, its entire body drenched in blood.
The figure, Orcid, hovered between life and death, gasping faintly. Curseumen did not truly need to breathe like humans did. They only mimicked the act, a natural reflex that meant nothing to their survival. They could endure without food, water, or air—sustained only by cursed energy. Spiritumen were the same, their lives bound to nature's energy.
"This must be because of him… But is he still alive?"
Aeris stepped closer, his body tense. Orcid's eyes were shut, a massive wound carved across his chest. A sword was buried deep within his body, its hilt still jutting outward.
"Is that Yuki's sword?" Aeris muttered, staring at the weapon.
"Maybe he's already dead. Good… that bastard deserved it."
He crouched, curling his fingers around the hilt. "I'll take this back."
But no matter how hard he pulled, the blade refused to move. It was lodged deep, immovable.
"It's stuck… maybe in his heart."
With a sharp breath, Aeris gripped the sword with both hands, bracing himself. His muscles strained, his face tightened, and he twisted the blade with all his strength. Suddenly, it tore free, slicing through Orcid's cursed core in the process.
The recoil sent Aeris stumbling backward, collapsing onto the ground. Orcid's body disintegrated in the air, dissolving into nothingness.
But then—something impossible began.
Aeris's eyes, once dark, flared into glowing purple. His body trembled violently as his bones cracked and stretched, his frame reshaping itself. His height surged upward, muscle swelling across his arms and chest as though his body was being reforged from the inside out.
In moments, the boyish figure was gone. Sitting there now was a young man with a tall, powerful build—his new height towering at one hundred and ninety centimeters, his body lean yet muscular. His skin had grown paler, his hair slightly longer, though styled the same.
His glowing purple eyes radiated an eerie aura. His once loose shirt now clung tightly to his chest and arms, straining against his broader frame. His trousers rode awkwardly up his legs, shortened by his increased height, exposing his ankles.
Aeris lifted trembling hands to his face, brushing along his jawline—sharper, stronger than before. The boy who had seemed like a child was now gone, replaced by someone almost unrecognizable.
"What the hell is this? What did that monster do to my body?"
He stared at his own reflection in disbelief, every movement of his new body foreign yet powerful. Rising to his feet, he nearly stumbled—the sheer speed of his own reaction startled him. It felt as though he had leapt upward without even trying.
His body felt weightless, his movements faster than his own thoughts. He clenched his fists, swung his arms, and froze in awe—his body was reacting before his mind even finished the command.
"I can feel power surging inside me… it's overwhelming. But I can't focus on myself right now. I need to check on Yuki. Anything could happen to her at any moment."
He pushed off the ground—and in the blink of an eye, he was beside her again.
"What was that? What's happening to me and my body? I've never been this fast. Is it because of this new body? Whatever it is, I don't have the time to think about it now."
His gaze fell on Yuki, worry flooding his features. Even though they had barely known each other, Yuki had trusted him enough to let him walk beside her. She had been kind, even forgiving his earlier clumsy, shameful glances. She was too kind-hearted…
And now, she was lying broken before him.
Yet beneath his fear, a faint flicker of joy stirred within him. The body he had once only dreamed of was now real, his own.
He bent toward Yuki, but his longer legs threw him off, and he stopped awkwardly halfway. Adjusting, he leaned lower, reaching carefully to roll her over.
"I have to do this… even if she's naked. I can close my eyes."
He squeezed his eyes shut and turned her gently onto her back.
Yuki was truly bare, her body exposed under the open sky. Aeris's heart pounded furiously, but before his shame could overwhelm him, something strange happened.
What is this image in my head? I can see everything around me so clearly.
Inside his mind, a strange vision spread out—a perfect outline of his surroundings within ten meters, sketched in flawless detail. Beyond that, the image blurred, stretching into two hundred meters, the edges fading into shadow.
There were no colors, only shapes, surfaces, textures—all etched into his perception as though the world itself had been redrawn in his mind.
Through this vision, Yuki's form appeared as vividly as if he were staring at her with his own eyes.
"I can't ignore these new abilities… or this new body. But before that…"
He clenched his fists, his glowing eyes fixed on Yuki's fragile figure.